The future of the chocolate industry is in jeopardy. People are recognising the dangers of obesity and diabetes and are less likely to eat sweet treats. The confectionery industry has tried and failed in crafting a chocolate that is still tasty while having less sugar.

On their mission to save people from diabetes and the chocolate industry from higher sugar taxes, Finnish Food Innovation Company Valio created a unique chocolate recipe with 30% less sugar. The recipe, containing a true breakthrough ingredient called Valio Bettersweet, does not change the taste or texture of traditional milk chocolate. Our job was to get it on the lips of the biggest chocolate manufacturers in the world.

To demonstrate that any milk chocolate in the world can be made healthier, we decided to create the ultimate chocolate that would satisfy all the important cravings – with less sugar.

To get on the radar of the biggest chocolate manufacturers in the world, we first sent out the ultimate recipe and proof of concept of the milk chocolate to all confectionery industry medias. Everyone of them got interested in what the future of milk chocolate looks and tastes like.

Statements regarding sugar reduction without affecting taste are most often hard to believe and even harder to deliver. The number one reason people consume treats is for the delicious sugary taste, which makes people react skeptical towards claims of sugar reduction without impact on taste. That is why we needed to communicate sugar-reduction in a new way that doesn't center on the sugar reduction itself. Bettersweet doesn’t take away the sweetness we all love in our treats, but replaces it with something better.

To understand consumer needs and preferences we analyzed approximately 3 million social media conversations, mainly in Twitter. The conversations were filtered by selected keywords, such as chocolate, treat, etc. This text-based data was further analyzed by an AI helping us pinpoint most important and recurring themes in the conversations. The findings were then used as a basis for the recipe for our proof-of-concept product.

The proof-of-concept was created to reach and convince the decision-makers in the world's largest confectionery manufacturer organizations.

In order to match with all of worlds chocolate cravings, the Valio Bettersweet chocolate recipe was done by using a tailor-made algorithm that analyzed social data in real-time, scanning more than 3 million chocolate related tweets. After that we’d found out exactly what kind of chocolate people like, plus why and when they prefer to eat it, we turned to expert chocolatiers to materialize the recipe using the Valio Bettersweet lactose-free milk powder, which drops the need for added sugar in the recipe by 30%.

Once the final “bar of bars” was done, It was sent to selected decision-makers and industry journalists to create awareness and buzz around the innovation. Turned out that no-one could resist it.

The business impact is unquestionable. Before the campaign, not many were eager to hear more about the wonders of Finnish milk powders. Now the tables have turned completely: over the Atlantics hot leads are reaching out to get a sample of tomorrow’s milk chocolate. Confectionery Fair visitors are flocking around Valio’s booths. The sales leads have increased with 200% and Valio is now discussing with ALL of the world's leading chocolate manufacturers about better ways of cutting sugar from their most beloved chocolate treats. News of the ultimate recipe of tomorrow's milk chocolate reached over 120M people, and most important of all: all of Valio’s chocolate industry prospects.