Reading scientists create chocolate bars from Berkshire-grown cocoa
Developing story first seen 3 hours ago
Scientists at the University of Reading have produced six limited-edition chocolate bars using cocoa grown in Berkshire, making them the first made entirely from UK ingredients since 1932. The project, led by food security master’s student Maha Khan, is intended to highlight how climate change threatens cocoa supplies and the communities that grow them.
Khan harvested, fermented and processed beans from the university’s cocoa collection, which contains more than 300 varieties at its international cocoa quarantine centre. The centre handles 97% of international cocoa-plant movement, and its work could help identify varieties resilient to heat, heavy rain, pests and disease; Britain’s £10.4bn chocolate industry currently relies wholly on imported cocoa. Khan hopes to increase production if beans are available, although a cocoa pod takes about six months to grow, and has suggested offering a bar to the Princess of Wales.
- Reading scientists made six chocolate bars with UK-grown cocoa.
- The project highlights climate risks to global cocoa production.
- Cocoa diversity may help farmers adapt to worsening weather.
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Cocoa is the main ingredient in chocolate and normally grows in hot, humid countries near the equator. Most of the world’s cocoa is grown by small-scale farmers in West Africa, with other supplies coming from parts of Latin America and Asia.
The University of Reading keeps cocoa plants for research at a specialist quarantine centre, where plants and beans can be handled safely before being moved between countries. Researchers use such collections to study different cocoa varieties and to help protect crops from pests and disease.
Chocolate makers in Britain depend on imported cocoa, so changes to harvests overseas can affect supply and prices. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall and plant diseases are among the factors that can make cocoa farming less reliable.
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Originally published by The Guardian as “All-British chocolate bar made by scientists using Reading-grown cocoa”.