Planet A Foods was founded in 2021 by siblings Sara and Maximilian Marquart to develop new food products that can be produced independently of highly limited resources such as cocoa, palm oil, or land. The startup initially focused on the production of cocoa-free chocolate and developed Nocoa.
Nocoa uses oats instead of cocoa beans and dairy products. Oats are crushed (fermented) with yeast in a process and then roasted. This gives the product its typical chocolate flavors and texture. The yeast is then filtered out of the product. And because oats are naturally sweet, Nocoa uses around 30 percent less sugar than conventional chocolate in all its flavors. Visitors to this year's Bits & Pretzels were already able to sample a vegan ice cream from Nocoa. Munich Startup was also able to taste the ice cream.
“Our nationwide market launch has shown that people are ready for Nocoa,”
so Maximilian Marquart, CEO and co-founder of Planet A Foods.
"Whether as a bar, ice cream, or cookie—Nocoa passed the consumer test with flying colors. Our chocolate, made from local, sustainable raw materials, is a hit. It's just as melt-in-the-mouth and full-flavored as conventional chocolate, but has a 92 percent smaller ecological footprint and less sugar. Now we're taking the next step with our new production facility."
Nocoa “competitive with conventional chocolate”
In Pilsen, Czech Republic, 750 kilograms of cocoa-free chocolate mass will be produced per hour. The product meets all technical requirements for further industrial processing. Thanks to the new equipment, the startup New products can also be easily scaled and process changes reliably tested. Product development and prototyping take place at the company headquarters in Planegg, Germany. There, Planet A Foods is developing additional varieties and flavors of Nocoa chocolate.
“With our new production line, we are continuing our rapid growth and are delighted that our vision of local, sustainable chocolate, which began as an idea, is now becoming a reality,”
explains CTO and Co-Founder Sara Marquart.
"We already operate our production units according to industrial standards, but we're aiming for more: Our rollers in Pilsen are designed for continuous production with a capacity of approximately one ton of Nocoa per hour. We're already at a very attractive price level for our customers and competitive with conventional chocolate."
