Scientists at the University of Reading have produced a chocolate bar using cocoa beans cultivated in Berkshire. This marks the first time since 1932 that a chocolate bar has been made entirely from British ingredients.
Maha Khan, a master's student, harvested, fermented, and processed the cocoa beans at the university's food department. The project was undertaken to commemorate the university's 100th anniversary.
The initiative also aims to draw attention to the delicate nature of global food supplies. Cocoa plants are susceptible to changes in temperature and rainfall, with climate change already impacting cocoa-producing regions. The university hopes to underscore the importance of its work in preserving various cocoa varieties, which could offer resistance to climate-related challenges, pests, and diseases.
The University of Reading's international cocoa quarantine centre houses over 300 types of cocoa plants and manages 97% of the world's international movement of cocoa plants. Chocolate prices have recently increased due to high temperatures and extreme rainfall affecting cocoa crops globally.
Currently, only six of these limited-edition bars have been made. Ms Khan expressed hopes to increase production, dependent on bean availability, noting that a single cocoa pod takes six months to grow.