Reading scientists create UK's first all-British chocolate bar in nearly a century
University of Reading researchers have made a chocolate bar entirely from cocoa grown in Berkshire, the first such bar since 1932 when the future Queen Elizabeth II tasted one made by Rowntree's. The bar marks the university's 100th anniversary and highlights climate risks facing cocoa farming.
Scientists at the University of Reading have produced a chocolate bar made entirely from cocoa beans grown in the UK, an achievement not repeated since 1932. That year, a six-year-old future Queen Elizabeth II was given a bar made from a glasshouse-grown cocoa plant at confectioner Rowntree's headquarters in York.
The new bar was created by master's student Maha Khan to mark the university's 100th anniversary. She harvested, fermented and processed the beans herself in the university's food department, using plants from the institute's own collection.
Climate change concerns
The UK produces some of the world's finest chocolate in a market worth £10.4bn, yet the industry depends entirely on imported cocoa. Khan said cocoa plants are highly sensitive to shifts in temperature and rainfall, and that climate change is already disrupting production in the countries that grow most of the world's cocoa. She said preserving a range of varieties is essential to give farmers access to hardier plants.
Reading's international cocoa quarantine centre holds more than 300 cocoa varieties and handles 97% of the world's international movement of cocoa plants. Chocolate prices have climbed in recent years as high temperatures have stunted crop growth in producing regions, while heavier rainfall linked to climate breakdown has flooded farms across Africa.
Only six bars have been made so far, though Khan hopes to scale up production if enough beans become available — a single cocoa pod can take up to six months to grow. She said she hopes to give a bar to the Princess of Wales, who, like the chocolate, was born in Reading.
