Mars is joining the chocolate giants testing cocoa-free alternatives with a product launch in Germany.
The Snickers maker is working with ingredients supplier Planet A Foods, which is supplying its ChoViva cocoa-free ingredient for use in a product sold under Mars’ Balisto brand.
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Balisto Trail Mix is being rolled out in Rewe stores in Germany from April through October as part of a “test launch”, Mars said in a statement. The nut and raisin snacks contains ChoViva pieces.
Mars is also launching an M&M’s trail mix in German Rewe supermarkets, although that product does not include the ingredient.
The M&M’s Trail Mix contains almonds, peanuts and raisins, sitting alongside the brand’s traditional chocolate sweets.
Carsten Simon, the general manager of Mars Wrigley in Germany, said: “I am delighted that Mars Drinks & Treats is launching our brands into a new segment with the trail mixes and the first product with our partner ChoViva.”
ChoViva is made from ground sunflower seeds instead of cocoa, which are fermented and roasted “then mixed with plant-based fats, grape seed flour and sugar”, a spokesperson for Germany-based Planet A Foods told Just Food in March when it was announced Swiss giant Nestlé was introducing a cocoa-free product in Germany using ChoViva.
On the Mars launch, the spokesperson at Planet A Foods said the US-headquartered confectionery giant had requested “exclusivity” in promoting the Balisto Trail Mix. Both products come in 140-gram bags.
Planet A Foods entered a partnership with global chocolate and ingredients producer Barry Callebaut in November to promote cocoa-free.
Christian Hansen, the head of global strategy at Barry Callebaut, said at the time that the company was “embracing technology to open further avenues for growth while enhancing our resiliency to today’s cocoa-market volatility”.
Cocoa prices have come off the record highs reached in 2024 but remain elevated in historical terms.
Planet A Foods said in March that tests have shown that ChoViva has been “well received, especially by younger target groups like Gen Z”.
