Belgian fairtrade chocolate brand, Guylain unveils an improved less-sweet recipe to coincide with its rebranding strategy which includes transitioning to more sustainable production.

Guylain’s iconic chocolate seashells with hazelnut praliné, which is sold across four continents in 120 countries, has a revamped jacket and an upgraded recipe with less sweetness. 

Following 60 years of business, the brand is shifting its focus on sustainability.

“By changing our design and brand, we also want to introduce a broader target group to the taste of our chocolate,” says Tom Snick, CEO of Guylian. 

This comes amid rising trends toward planetary health as evidenced in Innova Market Insights Top Ten Trends for 2022 which identifies Shared Planet at the number one trend. 

Nut roasting technique
The secret to the new less-sweet version of Guylain, which sells about 800 million chocolates annually, lies in the roasting process of the hazelnuts used in the praline.

“All our hazelnuts are roasted in-house,” explains Ludwig De Kesel, master chocolatier of Guylian.

“We opt for the best quality and smallest hazelnuts. By roasting them in their shell, they give our praliné filling a strong and hazelnut flavor, which also tastes less sweet,” says De Kesel.  

The blending of dark, white and milk chocolate and the praliné filling is what distinguishes Guylians seashells from other chocolates. The recipe innovation has led to a new look and a much more sustainable approach.

 Another interesting trend is that cocoa is appearing in applications ranging from meat and bread to alcoholic beverages.

There has also been a steady rise in launch activity of cocoa ingredients while cocoa and chocolate provenance claims are on trend.

Better planet snackingGuylain chocolates have been revamped.
With the rebranding Guylain will also boost its sustainability credentials by committing to use Fairtrade cocoa. The company also offers suppliers the guarantee of a fixed cocoa price. 

All new packaging will be recyclable. Guylian is researching ways to reduce its use of paper and plastic. Since the start of this year, the production site in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, is fully climate neutral ensuring that CO2 emissions are low and compensated for.

Palm oil and soya are no longer used in the production process to prevent deforestation.

“We want to set the tone for all chocolate brands with these developments” says Snick.

“Guylian consciously chooses a pioneering role by going completely for sustainability in terms of raw materials, packaging, CO2 emissions and Fairtrade.” 

Curated range of chocolates
From relaunch, Guylian will offer a seleced limited curated range, which will be available all year round. The focus is on the seashells and seahorses, as well as on the Temptations range of 100 g premium bars.

In addition, Guylian will be launching themed packaging around the key gifting occasions of Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and Christmas. The packaging for the duty-free channel will also get a makeover. The new packaging will be available in stores from April. 

“The packaging will have a more contemporary and fresh design, while retaining the luxurious look,” says Snick.