AND NOW IT'S PINK, TOO!
Chocolate manufacturers1 have always been creative. They have given us products in all shapes and sizes, and a huge variety of flavors2 — including some strange ones like pepper, tea, and pizza. Manufacturers also follow changes in people's preferences3, and try to give them what they want. Several companies, for example, have recently reduced the amount of sugar4 in their products.(lines 1–5)
But for many years, one thing has stayed the same: the color. "Chocolate gets its familiar brown color from cacao powder5, which comes from the fruit of the cacao tree," explains food writer Andrea Morgan. "The more cacao powder it contains, the darker the brown. White chocolate is also made from that fruit, but there is no cacao powder in it. So chocolate really comes in only two basic colors: brown and white."(lines 6–10)
That, however, is no longer true. The famous chocolate company Callebaut recently said it has succeeded in creating pink chocolate. Other manufacturers were not impressed6. Callebaut, they claimed, hasn't really produced anything new — it has only added food coloring to regular chocolate. But the company insists that the color does not come from food coloring. The secret, it explained, is the use of a special type of cacao tree and a special manufacturing process.(lines 11–15)
Pink chocolate has already arrived in the shops, and Callebaut believes it will be a great success. "The time is right because colorful foods are becoming increasingly popular," said the company. "You can see them everywhere these days. For example, many shops are selling blue potatoes and purple carrots, and some are offering bread in a wide range of colors."(lines 16–19)
Callebaut reports that pink chocolate has already got excellent responses7 wherever it is being sold. One of those places is China, where sales of chocolate have always been very low. Ms. Morgan believes that the new color is what made the difference. "The success of pink chocolate in China could help open up this country to other types of chocolate as well," she says. After spending ten years and huge amounts of money on developing its new product, Callebaut would be very happy to find out she is right.(lines 20–25)