Open Innovation Centre
Cacaolab and Sparkalis are partnering to establish an International Open Innovation Centre on Cocoa and Chocolate Processing
Are you an ingredient or equipment supplier, chocolate producer, start-up, inventor, student or researcher and looking for partners to innovate? We welcome you at our International Open Innovation Centre! This open and partially virtual institute is the place where stakeholders can meet and co-create based on synergies between people with different skills, knowledge and expertise.
“Cacaolab will continue to offer its R&D services on a bilateral and confidential basis to many clients all over the globe helping them to innovate their products and production processes. Because we are also strong believers in open innovation and co-creation, we are very happy to have found in Sparkalis a partner to make this Open Innovation Centre happen”.
— Koen Dewettinck, Senior Full Professor at UGent, Founder & Inspirer and Chairman of the Board of Cacaolab
“Cacaolab is already at the forefront of cacao and chocolate related research. It has an international reputation on the quality of its research, as well as the educational projects that prepare young scientist to innovate. We want to help them grow and create critical mass on science and technology in the cocoa and chocolate fields.”
— Filip Arnaut, Managing Director of Sparkalis, R&D Director GRS Lab at Puratos, member of the Board of Cacaolab
Our projects
ChocoFuture:
Collaborative Innovation in Cocoa/Chocolate Products:
Exploring Sustainable Alternatives between Belgium and Turkey
May 1, 2025 - April 30, 2026The Erasmus+ KA210-VET project “ChocoFuture”, funded by the European Union, was a collaboration between Cacaolab (Belgium), Konya Food & Agriculture University (Turkey) and Tarsus Slow Food (Turkey). The project aimed to create a practical bridge between Belgian chocolate expertise and Turkish agricultural and culinary heritage. The main project objectives were to raise awareness of the environmental challenges affecting cocoa, to explore sustainable and healthier alternatives for cocoa- and sugar-based chocolate products and to support innovation through the use of Anatolian ingredients such as carob, tahini, nuts, citrus and local by-products.