Foreverland Brings Cocoa-Free Chocolate to Scale with New Puglia Facility

Courtesy: Foreverland

Italian food-tech startup Foreverland has opened its first production facility in Puglia, Southern Italy, marking a decisive move from pilot to full-scale manufacturing. The plant will produce over 500 tonnes per year of Choruba, the company’s flagship cocoa-free ingredient designed to help food producers navigate soaring cocoa prices and accelerate sustainability commitments.

Founded in 2023, Foreverland is modernising the carob-based chocolate substitutes of the past through fermentation and ingredient upcycling. By transforming carob pulp, traditionally discarded in favor of the seeds used for locust bean gum, Foreverland has developed a process that recreates the taste and texture of chocolate while cutting water use by 90% and carbon emissions by 80% compared to conventional cocoa. The Puglia facility, equipped with a dedicated pilot fermentation room, allows the team to test and refine processing steps, protect know-how, and validate industrial-scale unit economics.

“The launch of our Puglia facility marks the moment Foreverland moves from pilot projects to full-scale production,” said Massimo Sabatini, co-founder and CEO. “It allows us to work hand in hand with manufacturers, speed up recipe development, and bring sustainable chocolate alternatives into everyday products across Europe, all while ensuring we can meet demand at accessible price points.”

The new facility follows Foreverland’s €3.4 million seed round, backed by FoodSeed, CDP Venture Capital’s accelerator, and several European investors, signalling the growing investor appetite for ingredient innovation in Southern Europe. With production now scaled, the company is positioned to secure industrial trials with large clients while serving small and medium-sized manufacturers seeking to diversify away from volatile cocoa supply chains.

Foreverland

To showcase commercial readiness, Foreverland has partnered with Italian protein innovator Small Giants to launch Choruba Protein Bites, vegan, high-protein snacks made with yeast-based protein and coated in cocoa-free chocolate. The peanut butter and chocolate-flavoured bites are now available online and across the Gulliver supermarket chain. “Retailers and consumers are looking for real alternatives in categories like chocolate, where sustainability challenges are growing,” said Edoardo Imparato, CEO of Small Giants. “Through our collaboration with Foreverland, we’re bringing products made with innovative ingredients to market shelves. They deliver on taste, nutrition and responsibility, it’s a concrete step towards making sustainable indulgence the new normal in European supermarkets.”

The timing couldn’t be more critical. The global cocoa market is facing unprecedented stress as climate change devastates yields in West Africa, which produces over 60% of the world’s cocoa. Analysts warn that a third of cocoa trees could die out by 2050. Prices have reached record highs, prompting companies like Hershey and Mondelez to raise product prices, while cocoa cultivation continues to drive deforestation and high greenhouse-gas emissions. The EU’s new Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which limits imports linked to forest loss, adds further urgency for chocolate makers to rethink sourcing.

Foreverland is part of a fast-growing international movement tackling these issues head-on. In the US, Voyage Foods is producing cocoa-free spreads and bars made from roasted grains; Germany’s Planet A Foods, known for its ChoViva brand, uses precision fermentation to mimic cocoa’s flavour profile; the UK’s Nukoko and Prefer are developing bean-free chocolate from upcycled ingredients; while Win-Win Food Labs in Singapore and Compound Foods in California are re-engineering chocolate flavour through microbial fermentation. Together, these startups are building a new category of chocolate, one defined by climate resilience, ethical transparency, and resource efficiency rather than plantation dependency.

Foreverland’s Choruba ingredient has already been used in limited-edition pralines, Easter eggs, and panettone, and the company is developing new lines of vegan milk, dark and white chocolate alternatives, along with spreadable creams. Its products are available in Italy and Germany, with plans underway to expand into France and the Nordics, tapping into rising demand for sustainable indulgence across Europe.

From the Mediterranean carob groves to supermarket shelves, Foreverland is crafting a new narrative for chocolate, one rooted in circularity, fermentation, and Italian innovation. As Sabatini puts it, this is not just about replacing cocoa but about reinventing how the world defines sweetness, pleasure, and sustainability.