Van Houten take their indulgent chocolate drinks to the next level

Baristas and chefs can now take indulgent chocolate drinks to the next level, say Van Houten, who have launched their new 5 Colours Range.

Van Houten, whose expertise dates back nearly 200 years, have created a selection of White, Milk, Dark, Gold and Ruby drinks containing real chocolate grounds, with most delivering 100% chocolate content, far outshining the competition of other cocoa-based drinks, claim the company.

The sustainably sourced product helps tick all the boxes for bars, cafés and restaurants, having been designed and endorsed by top chefs and baristas. It can be prepared with ease and speed, has excellent solubility, and is ideal for dairy or plant-based milk, as well as being suitable for hot and cold drinks.

The choice of 5 Colours features Dark

(intensely dark and bitter, with roasted notes), Milk (smooth and balanced with note of vanilla), White (rich and sweet with hints of vanilla and caramel), Ruby (intense fruitiness with fresh sour notes) and Gold (caramel chocolate with notes of toffee, butter and cream).

Gareth Fitzpatrick, UK sales manager for Barry Callebaut Beverages, owners of Van Houten Drinks, said: “We noticed consumers really wanting to experiment. The White, Milk, Dark and Gold chocolate grounds boast an impressive 100% chocolate. Ruby 94%. This is pure chocolate indulgence.”

Van Houten chose to work with some leading baristas and chefs for the product launch, among them Dhan Tamang (five times UK Latte Art Champion), Nicole Battefeld (German Brewers Cup Champion) and Nir Chouchana (Champion de France Barista Coffee & Good Spirit).

“It was really important to us that the baristas themselves were fans of our chocolate grounds,” Gareth Fitzpatrick added. “Each of them developed key recipes within their favourite drink category, ranging from chocolate flat whites, to frappés, to innovative hot chocolates and iced chocolate lattes.”

All 5 Colours of Van Houten Ground Chocolate are part of Cocoa Horizons, the sustainability programme founded by Barry Callebaut in 2015 and supervised by the Swiss Federal Foundation Supervisory Authority. This independent, non-profit organisation focuses on cocoa farmer prosperity. They help farmers build selfsustaining cocoa communities that protect nature and their children.

Speciality coffee roaster triples output following capital investment

exact requirements and will allow the team to offer greater roast customisation to its wholesale customer base which has grown to cover the length and breadth of the UK since launching in 2014.

Joanna De Rycke, director at Iron & Fire, said: “An additional roaster has been in our growth forecast since day one, but a year ago it became clear that it was needed given our continued growth, as well as increased demand from wholesale customers for bespoke and customised roasts.

precision in terms of the roast profiles.

Joanna De Rycke added: “An investment of this size is not undertaken lightly but investing in state-of-the-art equipment is vital both for future-proofing our business and guaranteeing the highest quality roasts for which we’ve become known.

Speciality coffee roaster, Iron & Fire, has made a six-figure investment in an additional bespoke roaster to meet demand across its trade, as well as consumer, customer bases.

It will allow them to take a more flexible approach to its customers’ roasting needs, they report, whilst tripling its overall output.

Imported from Europe, the roaster has been built and modified to Iron & Fire’s

“The company was founded on ensuring every customer receives something special in their cup and we’ve stuck by that commitment from day one. Our 300+ wholesale customers choose us for exactly that reason: they want to know they’re serving the very best coffee they can and having this additional roaster ensures that not only is every order freshly roasted immediately before dispatch, but that it’s also truly special every time.”

The new roaster has a larger capacity compared to Iron & Fire’s existing equipment and has undergone additional modifications to allow for greater automation whilst maintaining utmost

“Despite current economic challenges, we’re continuing to enjoy consistent and ongoing growth which is likely to make further investment of this kind necessary, especially if we want to continue meeting our own exacting quality standards. Iron & Fire is synonymous with quality coffee and precise roast profiling. That’s not something we can afford to stop investing in.”

Iron & Fire has recruited an additional roasting assistant to support the increased output created by the second roaster and the team has its sights on further expansion this year.

Joanna De Rycke concluded: “Increasing output is only possible with a strong team in place. We expanded our team significantly throughout 2022 and anticipate further recruitment throughout this year as well.”