Chocolate to melt in your mouth, not in the packaging

(Kruchankova Maya)

Kraft Foods Global Inc. has made a public call via NineSigma for innovative packaging technologies to prevent chocolate from melting before it can be enjoyed.

Submissions are due by September 10, and a $25,000 (€19,660) grant is available for phase one to create a "proof of concept."

The proposal has to meet a number of criteria including protecting 40-100g chocolate pieces from melting at 24-40 degrees Celsius for a minimum of ten hours while enduring "multiple cycles of heating and cooling." Plus the packaging should be green, single-use, food-grade and not too large.

Kraft chocolate brands include Côte d'Or, Cadbury and Toblerone. Although Mars' M&M's guarantee that they won't melt in your hand, this call for new technologies could prompt the entire industry including Hershey and Nestle to develop new packaging and products.

In 2006, Nigerian food scientists created chocolate mixed with cornstarch and gelatin remains stable up to 40-50 degrees Celsius, according to their findings published in the British Food Journal.

For more details on the Kraft submission, go to: https://www.myninesigma.com/sites/public/_layouts/RFPs/NineSigma_RFP_60119.pdf

Full study, "Development of non-conventional thermo-resistant chocolate for the tropics": http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1558210&show=abstract