Nobody understood sequenced candy experiences better than Willy Wonka. Mondelēz just made his magical candies a little more real.

A recent Mondelēz patent filing shows that they use moisture management, particle design, and encapsulation to control when sourness, sweetness, and texture shifts occur during candy consumption.

They added a chewy confection around a powder centerfill, containing a particulate sweetener and about 6–25 wt% food acid, and a surrounding shell for an acid-rich phase until consumption.

To keep moisture from reaching the powder center and maintain its shelf life, the filing describes adjusting shell humectants, encapsulating food acids or other hygroscopic ingredients in the centerfill, and using anti-caking agents in the powder phase.

The system retains a non-equilibrium phase structure up to the point of consumption, where mechanical rupture or dissolution activates the next phase. Phase separation is not only preserved, but is used to define when different sensory elements are released.

This is just one story in the rapidly moving research around the candy and chocolates space. Our team analyzed where chocolate innovation is heading and how to position your portfolio before regulatory, supply, and consumer pressures force costly redesigns.

From cocoa shortages, price volatility, tightening regulations to rising health expectations, we track the state of chocolate research in 2026 in this report: https://food.greyb.com/resources/reports/chocolate-research/