Exploring Consumers' Acceptance, Emotions, and Attitudes Toward Clean Label Chocolates and/or Added Cocoa Shell

The influence of cocoa shells and/or the absence of additives in chocolates has not been deeply explored regarding consumers' behaviors, and the present work provides essential information to help the food industry design strategies to produce healthy and sustainable products. The objective of the present work was to evaluate the impact of the addition of cocoa shell to chocolate and the removal of additives from its formulation on consumer behavior. Participants (n = 135) evaluated chocolate samples (base [B], added cocoa shell [CS], without additives [CL], and cocoa shell without additives [CS + CL]) regarding acceptance, evoked emotions, and perceived sensory attributes in blind and stimulated conditions. In addition, the present work explored the preferences and drivers of liking of samples using the hard-laddering technique. CL affected acceptance, while CS did not influence liking scores, and CL evoked more positive emotions than CS in blind tests. In stimulated tests, when CL elements were presented on front-of-package labeling, the presence of an indication of CS positively impacted the expected liking; meanwhile, when CL elements were not presented on label, the indication of CS did not influence expected liking. In addition, the presence of CS on labels evoked more positive emotions than when it was not present, and CL slightly impacted emotional responses in the stimulated conditions. The most preferred chocolate was the combination of CL and CS, and the main purchasing driver was because there was more information about the product on front-of-package labeling. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: SabsThe present work brings important information to design marketing and novel product strategies regarding upcycled foods and the addition of chemicals to improve food quality by deepening exploration of consumers' senso-affective responses (acceptance, emotions, perceived attributes, and drivers of purchasing) toward chocolates added of cocoa by-products and clean label bars. Results are important not only to chocolate factories but also to the whole food industry chain.