Puratos USA to Launch First Professional Chocolate Product with Cultured Cocoa

PENNSAUKEN, N.J. – Puratos announced that it will soon launch the first chocolate product for professionals containing cultured cocoa. The product will be fully commercially available to Puratos customers in the United States toward the end of 2026. 

Puratos is developing the product in collaboration with California Cultured. Together, the two companies aim to commercialize a chocolate product for professionals and food brands that translates cultured cocoa technology into a solution that meets customer expectations for taste, quality, consistency and performance, Puratos said. 

"For Puratos USA, this announcement reflects our commitment to supporting American chocolate professionals with forward-looking solutions," said Jaina Wald, vice president of marketing & digital, Puratos USA. "The US market plays a central role in food innovation, and we are proud to help bring new technologies like cultured cocoa closer to commercial reality here."

"What matters to chocolate makers is simple. They need an ingredient that behaves like cocoa, tastes like cocoa, and shows up when they need it," said Alan Perlstein, CEO, California Cultured. "This partnership with Puratos moves cultured cocoa from a scientific proof into a dependable commercial ingredient that manufacturers can actually plan around." 

Puratos said it believes that cultured cocoa can act as a climate-independent and sustainable complement to traditional cocoa farming. 

"The future of the chocolate industry depends on our ability to innovate responsibly," said Youri Dumont, global director, Chocolate Strategic Business Unit, Puratos. "Through programs like Cacao-Trace, we have shown that improving farmer livelihoods, product quality and sustainability can go hand in hand, and we remain committed to cocoa farmers with the ambition to double our Chocolate Bonus and Quality Premium by 2030. Exploring new approaches such as cultured cocoa allows us to build on that foundation and continue shaping a more resilient future for chocolate."