Chocolate teapot innovation

As one of Nestlé’s global hubs for research and development, Product Technology Centre (PTC) York is responsible for developing new technologies and innovative products. The heart of the PTC is the Pilot Plant, a miniature factory where global Nestlé confectionery staff work together to experiment with new products and reformulate old ones. This was the perfect place for us to try to create a chocolate teapot.

Getting this right meant we had to find the answer to some detailed mathematical calculations.

What we discovered was the most important questions to answer were what was the right thickness of the chocolate walls and how big should be the size of the spout and top hole. If the walls were too thin, we found that they would collapse before the tea could be brewed. If the hole was too small, the condensation would cause the walls to melt too quickly, making the drink not tea but hot chocolate...

A few balloon experiments later they mastered it. Made from dark chocolate with 65% coco solids, the handcrafted chocolate teapot was able to produce a proper cup of tea (brewed for two minutes), without containing chocolate.

Read more about The One Show’s visit to York here.