It’s time for dark, milk and white chocolate to step aside and make room for a rosier flavor. Scientists have invented a new chocolate called “ruby,” Swiss cocoa giant Barry Callebaut said Tuesday.
Ruby chocolate features a reddish-pink hue and has a fruity, berry-like flavor. According to Barry Callebaut, the chocolate is made from the Ruby cocoa bean and has no berry flavoring or color added.
The new chocolate comes 80 years after white chocolate was introduced to the market. It also arrives amid a meltdown for the wider chocolate industry. Earlier this year, Nestle reported its slowest global sales growth in more than two decades, while Hershey said it planned to cut thousands of jobs.
Barry Callebaut CEO Antoine de Saint-Affrique told Bloomberg that the ruby chocolate arrives following about a decade of development. The chocolate appears to be targeted toward millennials in a year filled with a number of colorful food innovations aimed at younger, Instagram-obsessed shoppers.
“It’s natural, it’s colorful, it’s hedonistic, there’s an indulgence aspect to it, but it keeps the authenticity of chocolate,” Saint-Affrique told Bloomberg. “It has a nice balance that speaks a lot to millennials.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Donald Trump Is TIME's 2024 Person of the Year
- Why We Chose Trump as Person of the Year
- Is Intermittent Fasting Good or Bad for You?
- The 100 Must-Read Books of 2024
- The 20 Best Christmas TV Episodes
- Column: If Optimism Feels Ridiculous Now, Try Hope
- The Future of Climate Action Is Trade Policy
- Merle Bombardieri Is Helping People Make the Baby Decision
Write to Mahita Gajanan at mahita.gajanan@time.com