Natural pink chocolate is officially a thing and it was made for millennials

Order us a dozen boxes please

ruby chocolate

Order us a dozen boxes please

Stop the presses - there's now a fourth type of chocolate to give milk, dark and white a run for their money. After over a decade of trying, a team of researchers and chocolate experts have finally created the world’s first natural pink chocolate; a brand new innovation that could give the sweet toothed industry a boost.

While we’ve called it pink chocolate, Swiss chocolate makers Barry Callebaut would actually prefer if you referred to it by its official title: ruby chocolate. After 13 years working on the project alongside Jacobs University in Bremen, Barry Callebaut realised that they could use a special cocoa bean popular in the Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil to give the treat a pinkish hue. It’s the powder that’s created during the process that takes the chocolate into millennial pink territory.

ruby chocolate

The chocolate was unveiled for the first time in Shanghai on Tuesday, where the crowd went wild and Barry Callebaut’s shares jumped. It’s the first time in over 80 years that a new natural colour has been unveiled, not since Nestle brought white chocolate to table.

The taste has been described as berry-like with both a sweet and sour taste and ‘offers a totally new taste experience, which is not bitter, milky or sweet’ according to the brand.

Barry Callebaut CEO Antoine de Affrique told Bloomberg,’"It’s natural, it’s colorful, it’s hedonistic, there’s an indulgence aspect to it, but it keeps the authenticity of chocolate. It has a nice balance that speaks a lot to millennials.’

Sign this millennial right up. While there’s no word on when exactly we can expect ruby chocolate to hit the shelves, you can expect big brands like Cadbury and Hershy Co. to jump on board as they already work pretty closely with Barry Callebaut. However one thing’s for sure - it’s probably going to be very expensive.

Can you imagine how pink Valentine’s Day is going to be?

Megan C. Hills

Megan is a freelance journalist who covers entertainment and all things lifestyle, with a particular passion for fashion, beauty, travel and Keanu Reeves stories. She has previously worked on staff for titles including Marie Claire UK, CNN Style and The Evening Standard and has written for titles such as Bustle UK, Wallpaper*, Forbes and Hong Kong Tatler. She splits her time between London and her hometown Hong Kong, where she currently lives with the love of her life - an elderly dog named Poppy - and her husband.