Chocolate is a beloved sweet around the
world - consistently sparking the imaginations and insatiable
demands of chocolate lovers. Chocolate comes from cacao beans,
whose crops are threatened by age, disaster, and
disease. Recently, economic threats to chocolate
producers have prompted high-technology solutions and research
into improving upon and innovating every element of chocolate
production from bean to bar. These innovations, including a
range of fields from machinery to genetics, may qualify for
federal and state R&D tax credits.
The Research &
Development Tax Credit
Enacted in 1981, the federal Research and
Development (R&D) Tax Credit allows a credit of up to 13%
of eligible spending for new and improved products and
processes. Qualified research must meet the following four
criteria:
• New or improved
products, processes, or software
• Technological in
nature
• Elimination of
uncertainty
• Process of
experimentation
Eligible costs include employee wages, cost of supplies, cost
of testing, contract research expenses, and costs associated
with developing a patent. On December 19, 2014,
President Obama signed the bill extending the R&D Tax
Credit for the 2014 tax year.
Chocolate: From Bean
to Bar
Chocolate begins as a bean from fruits of a
Cacao tree. After being harvested, the fruits are cut open and
the beans are taken out and spread out to naturally dry before
roasting. After being dried, the beans are given a simple
cleaning, bagged, and then shipped to a refiner or a
bean-to-bar chocolate maker. The beans are further cleaned of
debris and then roasted. The roasted beans are then "cracked"
and winnowed by a mechanical process where the meat of the
beans are separated from the lighter shells.
The winnowed beans are then rolled or crushed until they
become a paste. This process may take days depending on
desired qualities and may involve different types of machines
- both industrial and artisanal. The resulting chocolate
liquor is then mixed and heated with added elements or
flavors. The chocolate is then cooled during and after being
poured into molds. It is common during this pouring and
cooling to use specialized machines to coat confectionaries
with chocolate or decorate them. The chocolate product is then
packaged and shipped.
The Future Needs of
Chocolate
Each industry involved in chocolate
products faces several challenges. Social, economic, and
environmental issues all contribute to threats that may harm
the industry. Currently, cacao trees only grow in specific
climates and are cultivated and harvested by local farmers,
which creates instability in the supply of cocoa beans. The
principle regions that harvest cacao trees are South America,
Western Africa, and Southeast Asia. 5 million farmers and a
total of 40 million people directly depend on this
productivity, which is often disrupted by political
instability, disease, pests, depleted soil, and age.
In order for the world to continue enjoying chocolate,
innovations will be necessary to expand and secure supplies of
cocoa beans. This can be accomplished by combating destructive
pests and disease, breeding new types of trees, educating and
training farmers in new techniques and processes, revitalizing
existing crops that have suffered from harm or age, and
creating policies and practices that certify sources are
socially and environmentally responsible.
Chocolate producers’ ongoing investment
in R&D is substantial. Below is a table of book per capita
expenses in R&D for Chocolate Manufacturers:
Innovations in
Chocolate Products & Production
Like many natural products of plants and
animals, chocolate is being studied closely at the biological
and genetic level. Several companies are finding ways to
create innovations in the chocolate production chain from the
farms where beans are grown to the sales floor where it is
sold. In addition, companies and organizations are developing
practices towards sustainability and providing stability for
farmers in regions where cacao trees
grow.
Cacao Biotechnologies, Inc. -
Brooklyn, NY
Cacao Biotechnologies is committed to
taking plant-based nutrients and creating new applications for
them in pharmaceuticals, skin care, and other human health and
disease treatments. Through studying and making use of the
whole cacao tree, Cacao Biotechnologies hopes to create new
products and applications. Their research and development
efforts - along with an intellectual property portfolio of 41
pending and issued patents - are aimed at producing and
propagating high-value cacao varieties to meet the future
economic and environmental needs of the world. Cacao
Biotechnologies has strategic partnerships with cacao farms,
university research labs, and biopharmaceutical experts.
Mars, Inc. -
McLean, VA
Mars is the largest
worldwide producer of chocolate products and has three
comprehensive strategies in place to secure its supply and
value chains and improve its sourcing. First, it wishes to
certify its entire cocoa supply - a move that would
standardize and provide insight into quality conditions and
improving productivity. As of 2015, Mars has certified about
30% of its supply and has a target of 100% by 2020. Second, it
wishes to conduct breakthrough research in improving cacao
tree breeding, farming methods, and protection against pests
and disease. In addition, it wishes to empower its sources of
beans by providing the technology and knowledge they need to
triple their productive yields.
Mars has also contributed to efforts with its partners to map
the cocoa genome, which provides scientists and biologists a
vital tool in creating better breeds of the cacao tree. The
Mars Center for Cocoa Health Science studies the nutritional
value and benefits of cocoa flavinoids.
Astor Chocolate - Lakewood, NJ
Astor Chocolate brings to market
innovative, award winning packaging designs combined with
quality, artisanal Belgian chocolate. Using 3D Design and
printing to advance product
designs, Astor Chocolate is following the trend of premium,
gourmet chocolates that combines high-quality food with
high-quality presentation. Astor Chocolate's packaging
features different shapes and materials, including a
‘Chocolate Chess’ set complete with board and
pieces.
TCHO, Inc. - Berkeley, CA TCHO is innovating chocolate products to
meet the demand trends of premium chocolates with Certified
Fair Trade and Organic sourcing. Many of THCO's packaging
choices are interesting
and unique from normal bars and wrappings; Jars, clear cases
of stacked bars, and squares with bright designs show off
unique chocolate from sustainable and certified sources. In
addition, TCHO engages in educational sessions to increase
quality of their source's beans as well as bring quality and
product expertise out to the distant fields from which they
source beans.
Cacao Prieto, Inc. - Brooklyn,
NY
Cacao Prieto (also known as Brooklyn Cacao)
is a premium chocolate maker in Brooklyn, New York that
creates and uses specialized and unique machinery to produce
their products. Of these machines is one they invented
themselves - a vortex winnower. Roasted beans pass through a
two stage mill and are then passed into a pneumatic tube,
where a vortex begins blowing over them in a swirling stream
of air. The kinetic energy of the husks is different than the
energy of the nibs (the meat of the beans) and thus are
conveyed outward of the system, while the nibs move on. This
method creates very high separation of nibs from husks and
ensures the purity of the future chocolate liquor. Moreover,
this swirling air vortex system allows for complete and easy
collection of the husks, which are recycled for use as natural
fertilizer.
Conclusion
Chocolate product manufacturers face
environmental, social, and economic challenges in order to
continue succeeding while meeting worldwide demand, and all of
the technological innovations that are emerging are the result
of hard work in research and development. The activities
described above may qualify for both federal and state R&D
tax credits.
Mars is the largest
worldwide producer of chocolate products and has three
comprehensive strategies in place to secure its supply and
value chains and improve its sourcing. First, it wishes to
certify its entire cocoa supply - a move that would
standardize and provide insight into quality conditions and
improving productivity. As of 2015, Mars has certified about
30% of its supply and has a target of 100% by 2020. Second, it
wishes to conduct breakthrough research in improving cacao
tree breeding, farming methods, and protection against pests
and disease. In addition, it wishes to empower its sources of
beans by providing the technology and knowledge they need to
triple their productive yields. 
TCHO is innovating chocolate products to
meet the demand trends of premium chocolates with Certified
Fair Trade and Organic sourcing. Many of THCO's packaging
choices are interesting
and unique from normal bars and wrappings; Jars, clear cases
of stacked bars, and squares with bright designs show off
unique chocolate from sustainable and certified sources. In
addition, TCHO engages in educational sessions to increase
quality of their source's beans as well as bring quality and
product expertise out to the distant fields from which they
source beans. 
Cacao Prieto (also known as Brooklyn Cacao)
is a premium chocolate maker in Brooklyn, New York that
creates and uses specialized and unique machinery to produce
their products. Of these machines is one they invented
themselves - a vortex winnower. Roasted beans pass through a
two stage mill and are then passed into a pneumatic tube,
where a vortex begins blowing over them in a swirling stream
of air. The kinetic energy of the husks is different than the
energy of the nibs (the meat of the beans) and thus are
conveyed outward of the system, while the nibs move on. This
method creates very high separation of nibs from husks and
ensures the purity of the future chocolate liquor. Moreover,
this swirling air vortex system allows for complete and easy
collection of the husks, which are recycled for use as natural
fertilizer. 
