The innovation and development team at HALBA experiments with new chocolates, creates baking mixtures and samples both raw goods and finished products.
There are two ways for a new product to make it to supermarket shelves. Either a gap in the product range was discovered, in which case a retail business like Coop approaches the team at HALBA. This is referred to as development. Or the development team at HALBA takes the initiative because it has an idea about something missing from the market. This is referred to as innovation.
An outstanding sense of taste is a prerequisite for working in this field. However, a sense of taste can also be learned and trained. That’s why the professionals at HALBA train their taste buds every week. The perception of taste, however, is sensitive. Therefore, it is forbidden to put on perfume or enjoy a cup of coffee before a tasting. Your personal sense of taste can also change over the years.
Most employees on the nine-person team have backgrounds in a skilled trade such as pastry chef or food engineer and were subsequently further educated. Their vast amount of specialist knowledge allows them to perfectly balance factors such as melting point, sweetness, bitterness, sourness and bite. The right raw ingredients for every new product are meticulously tested. For example, chocolate made with beans from Madagascar tastes completely different than chocolate made with beans from Honduras, even though both have the same amount of cacao. Teasing out different nuances and creating new blends and products is not only their job, but a labour of love. HALBA’s product range is therefore flexibly modified and constantly expanded with sustainable chocolate, innovative snacks and high-quality baking & cooking ingredients.