72° Brix cocoa fruit juice concentrate awarded with Sirha Innovation Awards 2021.

A new material to work with, won from the cocoa tree.  A multitude of applications for chefs and artisans. The power of a rare and unexpected taste... 

Valrhona presents Oabika, a new universe of creativity.

Oabika is a cocoa fruit juice concentrate, made from the still-undervalued white pulp that protects beans in the cocoa pod, also known as mucilage. Its nuanced aromatic profile, oscillating between fruity and tangy notes, instantly takes us to the heart of the plantations to discover the rare and exceptional taste of the fruit of the cocoa tree. Its syrupy texture and amber color make it an exceptional ingredient, the new key ingredient for chefs and artisans around the world.

Winner of the 2021 Sirha Innovation Award

Oabika was awarded a Sirha Innovation Award in the Products, Beverages and Ingredients category. This award is the result of a collaborative effort to create innovative products committed to reusing by-products of cocoa. 

Sirha innovation awards

Oabika is the embodiment of Valrhona's goal: the creation of a fair and sustainable cocoa industry in order to inspire creative and responsible gastronomy.

The extraordinary taste of cocoa fruit

When you taste Oabika, you will experience the extraordinary flavor of cocoa fruit, with powerful acidity and surprising aromas. It has a very nuanced profile, oscillating between subtle fermented notes, fruity notes of small, tangy berries such as redcurrant and more gourmet notes of candied fruit.
Oabika is an ode to creative escapism. The unusual taste instantly transports you deep inside cocoa plantations to uncover a mysterious fruit, with an exceptional treasure hidden inside the pod.

Adding value to an exceptional raw material 

The fresh juice is harvested sustainably and responsibly directly from cacao plantations in Ghana, then filtered, pasteurized and gently evaporated at 72 degrees Brix, producing a concentrate 100% extracted from cocoa pulp. The name means “gold of the pod” in Twi, a language spoken in Ghana. It refers to cocoa mucilage, an extraordinary resource that is still undervalued. 
In promoting this exceptional raw material, Valrhona is continuing its commitment to making the cocoa industry fair and sustainable, by using another part of the pod and enabling cocoa producers to generate additional revenue from selling this co-product.

A product co-developed in partnership with Koa

Koa turns cocoa pulp into added value. The Swiss-Ghanaian start-up collects the cocoa fruit juice used to make this concentrate. By processing this by-product, Koa is contributing to reducing waste from cocoa production by using solar-powered production technology. Koa is committed to communities in Ghana, ensuring the traceability of its operations and providing additional income to cocoa smallholders. 

Find out more about Koa's juice salvaging process.

The new key ingredient for your creativity

Oabika is an all-new material to work with and an inexhaustible source of creativity for chefs and artisans, whose imagination is fed by new sensations. It is an ingredient that will satisfy the needs of all gastronomy professionals—pastry chefs, chocolatiers, ice cream makers, restaurateurs, caterers and mixologists. It can be used pure or diluted for sweet and savory recipes alike, to make toppings, sauces, glazes, ganaches, jellies, mousses, creams, ice creams, sorbets, drinks and much more.

«Be daring! ». This completely unprecedented golden concentrate offers a multitude of applications: icing, molten centers, fruit pastes, chocolate bonbons, drinks, ice creams and more. It allows you to compose new gourmet scores, imagine sweet and savory gastronomy in a different way, and to push your limits.

View the product sheet

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Be inspired

To develop recipes with Oabika and its new cocoa juice concentrate, Valrhona wanted to involve eight passionate and talented chefs from the very start of the project to be as close as possible to the expectations and needs of gastronomy professionals. Driven by the extraordinary potential of this product, and the desire to move forward together and innovate, these chefs have developed gourmet recipes with Oabika.

Exclusively, we reveal 3 of the 12 recipes designed by the chefs. To discover all the available recipes, please contact your sales representative.

Brand new recipes

Oabika Turnip Dessert

By Rémy Havetz & David Briand

  • crème anglaise
  • nyangbo crémeux
  • almond streusel
  • nougatine with oabika cocoa nibs
  • oabika pacojet sorbet
  • oabika sauce
  • oabikomb
  • turnip and oabika compote
View recipe
Abyss

By Frédéric Bau & Victor Delpierre

  • in the spirit of a madagascan vanilla panna cotta
  • oabika diamond gel
  • delicious water
  • oabika foam
  • cocoa nib batons
  • guanaja elixir
View recipe
Oabika Transparent Tart

By Frédéric Bau & Baptiste Sirand

  • sweet almond pastry
  • soft almond sponge
  • light almond crémeux
  • oabika shards and drape
View recipe