Taste test Lab-grown chocolate? I should cocoa

Would you eat lab-grown chocolate? I requested a sample from California Cultured, a Sacramento-based company.

- Adrienne Matei

Its chocolate, not yet commercially available, in the same way as synthetic plant-derived pharmaceuticals.

A few days later, it arrives. The morsel, barely bigger than a coffee bean, is supposed to match the flavour of a 70%-80% dark chocolate. I open its packet and a chocolatey aroma escapes - so far, so good. I pop it in my mouth.

Slightly waxy and distinctly bitter, it boasts those bright, fruity dark chocolate notes. I'm no expert, but I enjoyed it - and found it almost indistinguishable from normal dark chocolate.

Globally, chocolate worth $140bn (£106bn) is eaten per year, and our appetite is only growing.

Yet the chocolate market has grown volatile in recent years. Cacao trees are vulnerable to drought and disease and the climate crisis has led to production shortfalls in chocolate-producing regions in west Africa.

Chocolate prices hit a historic high of $12,500 per tonne in 2024 with big confectionery companies such as Mondelēz, Mars and Nestlé heavily affected by the increases.