A new variety of chocolate called Ruby RB1 reached Australia this week – and there are plans for an official launch this September.
Barry Callebaut has developed the ruby chocolate product under the Callebaut brand for use by artisan manufacturers and chocolatiers.
Billed as the fourth variety of chocolate after milk, dark, and white, the product – called Callebaut RB1 – will be available in Belgium in April and Australia in September.
Pastry chef and chocolatier Kirsten Tibballs was in Sydney this week demonstrating several applications of the new chocolate, which currently has limited availability.
She said the variety opened up a host of new ideas for chocolate products in Australia, and was the first new type of chocolate to be released globally in 80 years.
Callebaut’s group brand leader Mathieu Brunfaut said ruby chocolate's “salient colour and unique taste profile” invited new pairing options in both sweet and savoury foods.
Discovered more than a decade ago in Brazil, ruby chocolate was the work of Barry Callebaut’s global research and development centres in Belgium and France, and the Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany.
Researchers found ruby chocolate was linked to precursors in a specific type of bean – the ruby cocoa bean.
RB1 owes its colour and taste solely to the selection and processing of the ruby beans – no fruit flavouring or colourants are added to the chocolate.
For every bag of RB1, Callebaut sources sustainably grown beans and supports cocoa farmers in cocoa farming communities.
In January, Nestlé Japan launched the limited-edition KitKat Chocolatory Sublime Ruby, the world’s first item made with ruby chocolate. Nestlé said 5000 bars were available in South Korea and Japan.
