HERZA Schokolade bars break 'color' barriers

German functional chocolate manufacturer introduces first, single-color, multilayer protein bar.

At the upcoming Finished Products Europe show to be held in early May in Geneva, Switzerland HERZA Schokolade looks to shake up the protein bar category with new product launches that sport vibrant colors as well as high protein contents.

The company’s “Color-Snackers" are the world's first single-color multilayer bars that replicate fruit filling color on the inside with the same attention-getting color on the outside by using a glaze. Whether red, green or other shades, these colorful bars immediately provide product differentiation in the bar category, the company says.

In addition, Norderstedt, Germany-based HERZA will reveal a broad range of energy and protein bars that appeal to consumers within this high-growth category, among them, high protein content and dieting bars.

In the diet category, the company has developed a fibre bar that features an extremely long satiety effect. It also has developed a new "White pure Chocolate" protein bar, made entirely of chocolate. HERZA also offers a milk chocolate with a high protein content. The company is one of only a few to produce functional chocolate with 40 percent less sugar and five times the protein of normal chocolate.

As a specialized chocolate manufacturer for 90 years, HERZA is one of the world’s leading suppliers of quality functional chocolate pieces for the food industry, and the European market leader in small chocolate pieces for mueslis. In addition, HERZA has gained a reputation as a contract manufacturer of functional bars, providing full-service from development to the production of such bars. The company is part of the independent, owner-operated Stern-Wywiol Gruppe, and benefits from the concentrated expertise and modern applications technology of its sister companies.

With more than 30 years experience in B-to-B reporting, writing and editing — the bulk of which was dedicated to covering the bakery, confectionery and snack industries — Pacyniak has chronicled changes within the food industry since the early 1980s. A Boston University journalism degree graduate, he worked for a variety of publications before joining BNP Media in 1994 as editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. In 2001, he took over as editor-in-chief of Candy Industry until 2018.