How do we calculate the weight of chocolate based on its volume?

Demands for chocolate figures

Lately, we have been receiving quite a lot of requests for customised chocolate figures. It used to be enough to wrap a plain Milka in cellophane as a gift. Then the cellophane-wrapped Milko was decorated with a ribbon. The culture of gift-giving and chocolate giving continued to develop. Gifts, givers and clients became more demanding, wanting better, more prestigious, more beautiful and of higher quality. Now, Milks are completely passe. Out. If someone gives them as a gift, it is almost insulting. Now, gifts are becoming more and more personalised, from chocolates with names written on them, to engravings on wooden boxes, to coloured packaging completely tailored to the customer.

3D printing

The latest trend comes with 3D printing of chocolate, which is not yet in widespread use due to the imprecise and slow technology. However, 3D chocolate figurines are currently making their way onto the market. From small cars, to ten centimetre logos, to half-metre components for various industries. All in any shape, filled with the finest milk or dark chocolate.

Of course, we also accept such enquiries, because we are having more and more of these conversations.

Calculating the weight of chocolate based on its volume

To help our future customers get an idea of how much chocolate is used for one of your chocolate figures. And so that chocolatiers don''t bring you around with a price tag.

I won''t write about the density of the bodies, you can read the basic concepts here. In this article, I''ll be as specific as possible, we''ll just do the math together: assuming we want a 15 x 13 cm chocolate figure (one of the most popular sizes), we need to take into account the height/depth in addition to the length and width. For this calculation, let''s consider 1 cm (the appropriate depth for a suitable bar of chocolate that is relatively solid and still thin enough to be eaten with pleasure). The volume of this ''chocolate body'' is therefore: 15 cm x 13 cm x 1 cm = 195 cm3.

If we know that the specific density of chocolate is about 1300 kg/m3, then we can derive the following: 1300 kg/m3 = 1.3 kg/dm3 = 1300 g/dm3 = 1.3 g/cm3. Which means that the weight of our chocolate body above would be equal to the product of the density and the volume. In practice, this means 195 cm3 * 1.3 g/cm3 = 253.5 g. In practice, this means a little less because the chocolate is not poured to the edge of the mould. Approx. 200g therefore! :)

How much does this cost? The final price of each figure is made up of the cost of making the mould (an average plastic/polycarbonate mould costs €200-400 including design, planning and preparation), and the chocolate is charged according to the weight and complexity of the preparation (approx. €30 / kilo).

P.S. If you are interested in a chocolate figure to your liking, please email us at info@mojacokolada.si or call us on 070 222 555. We will be happy to help you!

Have a nice sweet day,

Andraž Gavez
Director of Moja Čokolada d.o.o.