By Lab-grown chocolates could be an alternative, but may not be able to replace the real thing or provide resolutions to challenges in supply-chain, experts said.
Cocoa production in recent years has fallen sharply, raising concerns that the world may soon run out of the commodity that is used to make chocolates.
There has been recent chatter surrounding the potential of lab-grown chocolates and chocolates made using fava beans or sunflower seeds in filling the gap.
Rising demand for chocolate
The US chocolate industry is currently on a purple patch.
The industry’s sales surpassed $25 billion in 2023, according to the National Confectioners Association.
Start-ups and entrepreneurs have been catering to this demand boom by producing lab-grown chocolates and creating new substitutes using oats and carob.
The recent production loss in West Africa and falling supply of cocoa have prompted companies to fast-forward their efforts for alternatives.
Majority of the world’s chocolates are produced in West Africa, while the US and Europe remain the biggest consumers.
“Lab-grown cocoa is a solution that could solve some of the current challenges given that this method would definitely be free from deforestation, and as it is 25% of Asian consumers have already expressed a positive perception of cell-based ingredients,” Innova Market Insights Customer Success Manager, APAC, Felicia Kristianti was quoted as saying in a report by the Food Navigator Asia.
Cell-based chocolates from Switzerland
In 2024, cocoa prices soared as the market experienced increased volatility and movements.
US cocoa prices have risen more than 170% higher since the start of the year.
This rise has outperformed Bitcoin’s nearly 130% gain this year so far.
Early in the year, cocoa prices began to surge, driven by concerns over tight global supplies due to drought and disease in West African producers.
In Switzerland, the start-up named Food Brewer has been testing and developing lab-grown cocoa.
“Many producers have contacted us recently,” Food Brewer CEO Christian Schaub told SWI swissinfo.ch, a Swiss international news company.
They are interested in this technology, which has the advantage of not being influenced by weather conditions or the presence of pests – factors that can compromise crop quality and quantity.
According to the SWI report, Food Brewer started testing in 2022.
One of the major partners of Food Brewer is Max Felchlin AG, one of Switzerland’s leading chocolate manufacturers.
Food Brewer plans to bring cell-based chocolate into the market by 2026, according to SWI.
The report also said that Food Brewer wants to submit the application to the US Food and Drug Administration by early next year.
The start-up also plans to produce about 10,000 tons of cocoa every year by 2035.
“Locally produced, zero-kilometre cocoa could satisfy 20% of the demand of a large chocolate manufacturer like Ferrero Rocher,” Schaub was quoted in the SWI report.
Our cocoa powder will no longer be a niche product, but a key component for the food industry.
Obstacles
Despite the innovations and the advent of several technologies in manufacturing lab-grown cocoa, the initiatives face challenges from approvals and long-term solutions.
Experts believe that the lengthy process of getting approvals for novel food products could stretch for years.
Both the US and Europe have a lengthy approval process for novel foods.
There are also concerns that global food production may end up with a few large companies, which may create new types of food insecurities and inequalities.
Moreover, there is also scepticism over whether these new technologies could provide long-term solutions to fundamental problems.
“Lab-grown can be an amazing solution and it might solve the market issue in terms of end-products-but it will not address the fundamental issues facing farmers and deforestation and all of that,” the Food Navigator quoted Junglegold Bali Founder and CEO Tobias Garritt. Junglegold is the world’s first plant-based chocolate factory.
He also said that real chocolate lovers may want the real thing with its authentic flavour and not the lab-grown variants.
According to Renee Tay, head of regional marketing APAC at ofi, a food ingredients supplier, chocolate lovers would expect the product to taste exactly the same as the real one.
She told the Food Navigator:
So the cocoa alternatives may have a specific segment they cater to, but it will not be for the discerning chocolate consumer.
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