The chocolate industry is known for its exquisite creations that enchant our palate, isn’t it? Originally created as a beverage, chocolate has evolved over the years into the various forms we know today, due to the range of advanced production methods developed.
To ensure the quality of bars, bonbons, cocoa powders, and to prevent them from going bad, it’s crucial to control the air humidity during the production and storage of these sweets. Defective chocolates can compromise the brand image and lead to losses for chocolate factories, especially when dealing with gourmet chocolates, that use low-fat content in their production.
To produce chocolate with quality, it’s necessary to have a controlled environment, where temperature and relative air humidity are regulated. If there is variation in humidity and temperature in the factory, during the production process, the shape and appearance of the chocolate can be compromised, leading to losses and rework.
Producing quality chocolate begins with the cocoa preparation process. Cocoa beans should have a maximum moisture content of 8%, otherwise, above this percentage, mold growth can occur, adversely affecting the quality of the cocoa. Therefore, it’s important for the cocoa to be stored in a cool, protected place with humidity below 60%.
During the roasting of the cocoa beans, it’s crucial that the space has good ventilation to prevent the moisture removed in the bean preparation process from returning to the cocoa. After roasting, when cocoa nibs are formed, it’s recommended that the moisture be below 2%. As for cocoa liquor or cocoa mass, it’s necessary for the moisture content to be below 1.5%.
The use of air dehumidifiers, whether during production or storage, not only precisely prevents the problems mentioned above but also maintains humidity according to the requirements of each operation and prevents the proliferation of mold in the environment, non-food-related fungi, and bacteria. This is another aspect considered to ensure Good Manufacturing Practices. Desidrat air dehumidifiers are present in chocolate factories, chocolate shops, and candy stores to ensure product quality and prevent losses. Our customers attest that controlling the ambient humidity is essential to avoid Fat Bloom and Sugar Bloom.
It’s the appearance of whitish spots on the chocolate. Despite being mistaken for mold (which can be harmful to the product’s image), they are only fats and don’t pose any health risks. This defect can be avoided with the proper tempering process. During this process, the room temperature should be around 20°C, with a relative humidity below 60%. Under these conditions, there will be no water absorption by the chocolate, preventing an increase in viscosity, which would impact the efficiency of tempering as well as the quality of the final product.
Caused by excessive humidity, it is when the formation of small sugar crystals occurs on the surface of chocolate. Easily recognized by the spots and the sweaty appearance of the sweet. This type of alteration occurs when there is water evaporation.
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In addition to Fat Bloom and Sugar Bloom, clumping is one of the consequences of inadequate humidity control in the environment when it comes to the production of chocolate bars. After molding, chocolate tends to "sweat," generating moisture due to condensation points, forming visible droplets on the surface. The result could be bars sticking together, making the overall process more difficult.
Meeting increasingly demanding palates and preventing chocolate from developing mold or changing its flavor, texture, and shape, the food must be produced carefully. The use of dehumidifiers in the chocolate manufacturing process represented a significant evolution. Effects such as fat bloom and sugar bloom are good examples of characteristics that can be prevented by using a dehumidifier. Coming across a stained chocolate bar can be a source of discomfort. Although it can be said that this fact doesn’t cause harm to health, in the case of consumption, it is very common to exclude the food.
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Thermomatic’s client, the Belgium chocolate store Tonttulakki Suklaat, was founded in Penedo (RJ), Brazil, in 2000. Since then, it has been on the route of tourists and chocolate lovers who visit the region in search of fine, quality sweets.
In addition to the factory store in Penedo, Tonttulakki Suklaat has two more stores: in Visconde de Mauá (RJ) and Maringá. The Visconde de Mauá store is located in the Serra da Mantiqueira region, a place with relative humidity above 70%.
Problem: due to excess humidity, the store's chocolates had small balls on the surface, impacting the texture and aesthetics of the product. When identifying chocolates that suffered from high humidity, the store team discarded the products, as they were not of the quality standard for sale. This happens because, when the humidity in the cooling and packaging environment is high, the phenomenon of sugar bloom can occur, which is the flowering of sugar crystals on the surface of the chocolate.
Solution: the owner of Tonttulakki Suklaat, Ricardo Leite, contacted Thermomatic and invested in the Desidrat New Plus 1000 solution to control the humidity in the Visconde de Mauá store. After implementing the dehumidifier, the chocolates no longer suffered from high humidity, and the store considerably reduced losses.
"Desidrat solved my problem almost instantly and I had no further losses due to the excess humidity in the region. The return on investment was quick and I was very satisfied with the solution,” says Ricardo Leite.Ricardo Leite
Thermomatic's Desidrat dehumidifiers provide quality and safety in the production and storage of the best chocolates. Compact and silent, air dehumidifiers have been on the market for almost 40 years to serve environments of the most diverse sizes and work continuously to protect products and prevent damage. Thermomatic offers effective solutions with air dehumidifiers from the Desidrat line, because:
Furthermore, the precise control of humidity through a Desidrat dehumidifier is responsible for ensuring the consistency and granularity of inputs, the proper functioning of machinery, and compliance with hygiene standards.
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