AAK launched ILLEXAO™ EN 10, a new cocoa butter equivalent for enrobed applications, that ensures consistent enrobing for a wide range of applications.

Cocoa butter equivalent – a vegetable fat alternative to cocoa butter – is increasingly used. Common issues with it include chocolate mass thickening and destabilized flow, which lead to buildup in enrobing equipment, impacting processing efficiency and product consistency.

AAK’s ILLEXAO™ EN 10 has been developed specifically to address these challenges and guarantee enrobing performance, the company explains, even at high cocoa butter equivalent levels. Thanks to its fat composition, “It behaves much closer to cocoa butter, even as cocoa butter equivalent content increases, enabling manufacturers to maintain a stable, smooth flow, consistent coating performance, and a high-quality appearance and texture.”

 It is suitable for use in any enrobing application, including chocolate bars, cookies, cakes, sandwich cookies and wafers.

ILLEXAO™ EN 10 reduces buildup, helps achieve cleaner curtains, uniform coating weight, requires fewer line adjustments and cleaning stops, and has greater stability in long production runs, AAK points out. Smoother processing also means lower energy consumption, as well as reduced waste, rework, cleaning cycles, and processing hours.

ILLEXAO™ EN 10 also offers premium sensory performance and maintains resistance to fat bloom, supporting stable crystallization.

Morten Daugaard Andersen, Principal Research Scientist, Chocolate Confectionery Fats at AAK, commented: “Manufacturers are facing unprecedented raw material price pressures, but consumer expectations remain unchanged. This means reformulation poses a risk and getting it wrong could prove costly. AAK’s ILLEXAO™ EN 10 solves the production challenges associated with the use of cocoa butter equivalent at high levels, ensuring a straightforward enrobing process and a superb end-product that consumers will love.”

Photo: AAK (credit: Shutterstock)