‘If you use chocolate, you’re in crisis’: the surprise ingredients being used to beat costs

Win-Win’s Waim! bar, a vegan version of a Daim bar. The company uses fermented cereals and legumes to replicate the taste, texture and melt of traditional chocolate. Photograph: Win-Win

Rice is not the first ingredient most people associate with confectionery and desserts, but a UK company is using it to create cocoa-free chocolate.

It is part of an emerging trend in which chocolate makers are exploring alternative ingredients and new technologies to make their products more sustainable and reduce reliance on conventional cacao beans.