Campco’s New Chocolate Will Be Made Using Neera Sugar

Mangalore-based Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) will be launching new chocolate products made from ‘neera’ sugar, which is also the sap of coconut palm. And this new kind of chocolate will be launched on Saturday, July 23rd.

The reason for this change is that the chocolate will also be safe for consumption by those with diabetes. Neera sugar is prepared using a technology developed by the CPCRI (Central Plantation Crops Research Institute) and has low glycemic index, making it safe for those with high sugar levels.

M. Suresh Bhandary, the managing director at Campco said, “We are introducing milk chocolates and chocolate beverages using neera sugar. It is a good chocolate from health point of view but comes at a higher price. The price will be almost double that of the normal chocolate.”

Currently, there are only a few neera producers in the south of India, particularly Tamil Nadu and Kerala, and they mostly manufacture sugar, honey and jaggery from neera. But Campco might be the first to use it in chocolate.