GOLDEN TICKET: Gold foil, ornate labels and an interesting flavor combos are product characteristics highly desired by premium-chocolate consumers, according to research conducted by food scientists in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

The study is one of the first to thoroughly research what American premium chocolate consumers find to be desirable in chocolate bars. An additional focus was on these consumers’ perceptions of craft chocolate, made from scratch, bean to bar, by small companies using fine-flavor cocoa beans.

Craft chocolate is gaining popularity among consumers who are seeking a unique experience, noted lead researcher Allison Brown, food science doctoral candidate in the college’s International Agriculture and Development dual-title degree program.

Brown, joined by Helene Hopfer, assistant professor of food science, and Alyssa Bakke, sensory scientist in the Sensory Evaluation Center at Penn State, conducted the study, which involved a “projective mapping” activity and focus groups.

Participants mapped 47 different product stickers on paper and brought them to the focus groups, then discussed their reasons for the categories named “artisan,” “Halloween candy” or “special occasion,” among others.

In the second half of the focus groups, participants tasted five chocolate bars in three categories: mainstream (Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Bar), premium (a Lindt Cocoa Dark Chocolate Bar, a Green and Black’s Organic Dark Chocolate Bar, and an Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds); and craft (Dandelion Chocolate 70% Ambanja, Madagascar).

Almost all consumers found the craft sample to be novel and exciting, likening it to coffee and wine in terms of flavor and packaging. They were wowed by the product’s label design and thick gold foil, with one consumer saying it was “like getting a golden ticket from Willy Wonka.”