Chocolate and Chocolate Products

The key ingredients in chocolate and chocolate products are finely ground cocoa kernels (= cocoa paste), cocoa butter, and sucrose, with milk chocolate also containing dairy products. Other ingredients, such as nuts, almonds, grapes, etc., are also used. Each chocolate product is subject to certain minimum requirements.

The very diverse types of chocolate are made using milk powder, sugar, or cream powder, and other ingredients. The manufacture of such diverse products as plain chocolate and milk chocolate depends on the respective recipe and mixture ratio. Nowadays mixture ratios are exactly controlled using electronic metering units. However, the workable mass thereby produced is not yet the final product. It is put into a stirring and grinding system (conche) and is turned and stirred, aired and brought to the right temperature for a period lasting many hours to several days. This then produces the smooth chocolate that is further processed into a diverse range of products.

Solid chocolate is sold in the form of slabs, wafers, bars, or relief figures, with or without ingredients in piece form, such as hazelnuts, raisins, or puffed rice. Adding certain milk and dairy products creates various kinds of chocolate, such as plain chocolate, milk chocolate, and cream chocolate.

Filled chocolates contain pourable, liquid (e.g. including liqueurs), soft, or solid pastes. The various types of bars and their typical forms are also included here.

Hollow figures are particularly known as seasonal articles, such as chocolate Santas, Easter bunnies, Christmas tree decorations, or eggs.

White chocolate contains neither cocoa powder nor cocoa mass but only cocoa butter (at least 20%), sugar, and dairy products. It is yellowy-white since the dark-coloured components of cocoa are missing.

Pralines are either filled chocolates or layered chocolates containing layers of different chocolate types or layers of other foods. They have to have a chocolate content of a least 25%. Pralines have a characteristic size: they have to be "bite-sized”, otherwise they may not be called "pralines”

Semi-Finished Chocolate Products

Semi-finished chocolate products are goods at a stage between the raw material and the finished goods, i.e. these are unfinished articles or part of an article, e.g. chocolate wafers for making stracciatella ice cream.