As Climate Change Threatens Cocoa, New Innovations Offer Hope for Chocolate Lovers
Climate change is putting stress on rainforests where the highly sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate enthusiasts need not worry. Companies are actively researching alternative methods to grow cocoa and develop cocoa substitutes.
Scientists and entrepreneurs are exploring ways to produce more cocoa beyond the traditional tropical regions, extending from Northern California to Israel. California Cultured, a plant cell culture company in West Sacramento, is growing cocoa from cell cultures, with plans to start selling its products next year. By cultivating cocoa bean cells in a vat with sugar water, they achieve maturity in just a week, compared to the six to eight months required for traditional cocoa harvesting. This innovative process also significantly reduces water usage and labor, said CEO Alan Perlstein.
“We see just the demand of chocolate monstrously outstripping what is going to be available,” Perlstein noted. “There’s really no other way that we see that the world could significantly increase the supply of cocoa or still keep it at affordable levels without extensive environmental degradation or significant other costs.”
Cocoa trees thrive within 20 degrees north and south of the equator in regions like West Africa and South America, where warm weather and abundant rain are essential. However, climate change is expected to increase temperatures and reduce rainfall, jeopardizing cocoa production. In response, scientists and entrepreneurs are working to make cocoa cultivation more resilient and pest-resistant, and they are developing chocolate alternatives to meet growing demand.
The U.S. chocolate market alone surpassed $25 billion in sales in 2023, according to the National Confectioners Association. Many entrepreneurs believe demand will outpace the available supply, prompting companies to turn to cell-based cocoa and alternative ingredients, such as oats and carob, that mimic the taste of traditional chocolate.
Cocoa prices surged earlier this year due to increased demand and challenges in West Africa, where diseases and climate changes have severely impacted crops. The region produces the majority of the world’s cocoa supply.
“These factors contribute to potential supply instability, making lab-grown or cocoa substitute companies explore alternatives to traditional chocolate,” said Carla D. Martin, Executive Director of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute and lecturer at Harvard University.
Most of the world’s cocoa is grown in West and Central Africa, but only 4% of it is consumed there, highlighting the role of U.S. and European demand in driving innovation. The movement to produce cocoa in labs follows other successes, like lab-grown meat, and aligns with consumers’ growing awareness of food origins and concerns about child labor in the cocoa industry.
Planet A Foods in Planegg, Germany, argues that the mass-market chocolate flavor comes more from fermentation and roasting than from the cocoa bean itself. The company developed “ChoViva,” a chocolate alternative made from oats and sunflower seeds, which can be used in baked goods.
“The idea is not to replace high-quality, 80% dark chocolate, but to introduce diverse products into the mass market,” said Jessica Karch, a company spokesperson.
Meanwhile, companies like Mars are focused on enhancing cocoa resilience in its natural habitats. Mars operates a research facility at the University of California, Davis, studying disease-resistant cocoa plants to help farmers maintain a stable supply. “We see it as an opportunity, and our responsibility,” said Joanna Hwu, Mars’ Senior Director of Cocoa Plant Science.
In Israel, Celleste Bio is working to grow cocoa bean cells indoors to produce cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Co-founder Hanne Volpin expects that within a few years, the company will produce cocoa regardless of climate and disease impacts, attracting interest from major players like Mondelez, the maker of Cadbury chocolate.
California Cultured, similarly, plans to seek FDA approval to market its product as chocolate. Perlstein notes, “We basically see that we’re growing cocoa—just in a different way,” suggesting it could be labeled as “brewery chocolate” or “local chocolate,” though it remains genetically identical to tree-grown cocoa.
Source: Associated Press
