University Of Reading Makes First 100% British Chocolate Bar Since 1932

The Reading 100 Chocolate Bar, created to mark the university’s centenary, was made using cocoa grown at its International Cocoa Quarantine Centre in Berkshire, together with British-grown sugar and milk. 

The university says it is the first 100% British chocolate bar since 1932, when Rowntree’s produced a bar from glasshouse-grown cocoa in York and presented it to the six-year-old Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II.

Food security master’s student Maha Khan harvested, fermented and processed the Reading-grown cocoa before turning it into chocolate with support from the university’s food science experts.

The project highlights the UK chocolate industry’s dependence on imported cocoa and the importance of protecting cocoa varieties as climate change puts growing regions under increasing pressure. The university’s quarantine centre holds more than 300 types of cocoa plant and handles 97% of the international movement of cocoa plants worldwide.

Funding Crisis Threatens Decades of Research at International Cocoa Quarantine Centre

During a session at last week’s London Chocolate Forum, Dr Fiona Lahive, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Reading, discussed the growing threat of climate change and its implications for the future of cocoa production, as the centre fights for its own survival

From The Desk of CocoaRadar™Anthony Myers