Bunge Loders Croklaan wins FI Europe award with first 100% shea-based cocoa butter equivalent

Bunge Loders Croklaan, global producer of plant-based lipids, was nominated twice for this year’s Fi Europe awards. It eventually won the Clean Label & Natural Innovation Award with Karibon, the first 100% shea-based cocoa butter equivalent (CBE). We spoke with Feike Swennenhuis, Marketing Director EMEA at Bunge Loders Croklaan, to ask him about this new product.

Producers of chocolate are allowed to replace up to 5% of cocoa butter with a CBE. This practice is common, mostly for price-related reasons. Existing CBEs consist of a combination of palm fats and shea fats. “Today, consumers want a broader choice. Especially the millennial generation is more critical towards their food consumption,” states Swennenhuis. “They often prefer more sustainable and nutritious products,” he continues, “and they care more about the origin and the journey of the ingredients. We developed a 100% shea based CBE, the first of its kind: Karibon, that answers this consumer need and offers everything food manufacturers are looking for in a premium CBE.”

Multiple advantages

Besides being 100% shea-based, Karibon brings a multitude of advantages: superior flavor and texture, improved sensory perception, better nutritional values (low SAFA and non-hydrogenated) and better shelf life compared to traditional cocoa. Adding to that, Karibon has a cool, clean melting performance and is label-friendly and can replace the conventional CBEs in the process in an easy way.

Empowering shea collecting women

Bunge Loders Croklaan wished not only to produce a product that fulfilled the demands of the (millennial) consumer, but also to ‘build a better tomorrow’ by being deeply invested in their growth and prosperity. This belief is what brought their Shea Sustainability Initiatives to life in 2017, and in 2020 Bunge Loders Croklaan launched its Where Life Grows shea sustainability program to empower shea collecting women and future generations, create socio-economic value in their communities, and conserve and regenerate the shea landscape in the region.

IFFI congratulates Bunge Loders Croklaan with the award and is proud to have Bunge Loders Croklaan amongst their hub of members.