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Ardent Mills has introduced Cocoa Replace, a wheat-based ingredient designed to replace up to 25% of cocoa powder in baked goods like cakes, cookies, brownies and muffins.

The product addresses ongoing challenges with cocoa supply, rising costs and clean-label demands.

Cocoa Replace is a single-ingredient, non-GMO, vegan and kosher-certified solution that simplifies reformulation for manufacturers. It allows for minimal label changes in wheat-based products, offering a cost-effective alternative amid cocoa price volatility.

Ardent Mills validated Cocoa Replace through sensory testing with trained panels and consumers, showing comparable taste and acceptance to traditional cocoa powder at the 25% substitution level.

Angie Goldberg, chief growth officer at Ardent Mills, said: "Cocoa Replace is a targeted response to cocoa market volatility, but it's also part of a broader strategy. We're focused on helping our customers build resilience into their supply chains and formulation strategies – supporting not just the challenges they face today, but the ones coming next."

Sergio Machado, senior director of research and development, added: "Cocoa Replace is a powerful example of how Ardent Mills equips customers to navigate disruption with practical, high-impact solutions. This ingredient innovation showcases our R&D agility and our ability to collaborate closely with customers to transform real-time market challenges – whether rising input costs, clean-label reformulations or shifting consumer expectations – into scalable, commercial-ready innovations."