Cacao Fruit Pulp Drink from chocoMe Atelier

When we think of cacao, almost everyone thinks of chocolate. Yet cacao is actually a fruit, and the chocolate made from it reveals only one of its many faces. When a cacao pod is opened, the cacao beans are surrounded by white, juicy, sweet-and-tart fruit pulp. This so-called cacao pulp offers a surprisingly distinctive taste experience: neither its flavour nor its aroma resembles chocolate. Instead, it evokes exotic fruits, with notes of pineapple, lychee, peach, pear, quince, lime and honey, accompanied by natural sweetness and refreshing acidity. The new Cacao Fruit Pulp Drink from chocoMe Atelier reveals a completely different, still little-known side of cacao. 

For centuries, cacao cultivation has centred on the cacao bean. The fruit is opened, the beans are removed together with the pulp surrounding them, and fermentation begins – a process that is essential to chocolate making. However, a significant proportion of the juicy fruit pulp is not separately utilised as food within the traditional cacao value chain. Yet it is an exceptional ingredient in its own right. 

The chocoMe Atelier Cacao Fruit Pulp Drink is based on cacao fruit pulp juice from Ecuador, which makes up 63 percent of the finished drink, with only 37 percent water added. Thanks to its high fruit content, the drink is intensely fruity and full-bodied, yet refreshing in character.

It does not have the deep, roasted cacao flavour we would expect from chocolate.

That is precisely what makes it so surprising. Anyone tasting it for the first time with their eyes closed would probably never imagine that they are enjoying another part of the very same fruit from which chocolate is made. The new drink fits perfectly with the philosophy of chocoMe Atelier. Just as Atelier bean-to-bar chocolates place the origin, variety and individual character of the cacao bean at the centre, here we want to bring the cacao fruit itself closer to consumers, a part of it that is still little known in Europe. Making use of cacao fruit pulp also has sustainability significance: a valuable ingredient that remains largely underutilised during traditional cacao processing becomes a product in its own right. Selling the pulp can also create an additional source of income for cacao farmers from the very same harvest. 

 Served chilled, the chocoMe Atelier Cacao Fruit Pulp Drink is a distinctive refreshment on its own, but it can also be an exciting ingredient for non-alcoholic cocktails, cocktails and gastronomic applications.

The product is currently available in Hungary exclusively from chocoMe.

Everyone knows chocolate. Now we show you what the cacao fruit itself tastes like.