A chocolate bar made from 100 per cent British ingredients has been created for the first time in nearly 100 years.
Maha Khan, a master’s student studying food security at the University of Reading, produced bar which has not been created since 1932.
The cocoa beans used in the bar were cultivated at the university’s International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, a climate-controlled facility housing a remarkable collection of more than 300 cocoa plant varieties.
After harvesting the pods, Ms Khan sun-dried the beans before grinding them into powder, which she then blended with sugar and milk, both sourced from within Britain.
The project was designed to draw attention to the growing threat that climate change poses to global cocoa production and, by extension, to the United Kingdom’s chocolate industry, currently valued at £10.4billion.
The last time a wholly British chocolate bar existed was in 1932, when Rowntree’s produced one that was presented to the future Queen Elizabeth, who was then just six years old.
Ms Khan’s creation demonstrated the intricate journey required to transform raw cocoa into a finished product, a process she completed without ever leaving Reading.
“It has been amazing to follow the entire chocolate-making process, from pod to bean to bar, without leaving Reading,” she said.
“It’s incredible to taste the complexity of the flavour profiles as the cocoa is made from plants originating from over 300 varieties grown here.”
The pods used for the bar would ordinarily have been discarded, as the centre typically removes them without putting them to use.
The vulnerability of Britain’s chocolate market underscores a deeper concern about food security, given the country’s total dependence on cocoa imported from tropical regions across Africa, South America and Asia.
“This British bar of chocolate highlights the precarious nature of our food supplies,” Ms Khan said.
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“Cocoa plants are very sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall, and climate change is already causing problems in countries that produce most of the world’s cocoa.”
She stressed that safeguarding genetic diversity among cocoa varieties is essential for developing hardier plants capable of withstanding shifting climatic conditions.
“Protecting different varieties is vital if farmers need hardier plants that can cope with a changing climate,” she added.
“I hope this shows people just how much work goes into the chocolate we enjoy, and how important it is to protect cocoa farmers and communities around the world.”
The University of Reading’s International Cocoa Quarantine Centre occupies a singular position in the global chocolate industry, overseeing 97 per cent of all cocoa plant transfers between growing regions worldwide. Its carefully controlled environment serves a dual purpose: preventing pests and diseases from spreading between cocoa-producing areas while giving researchers access to an unparalleled living library of the crop.
Prof Carol Wagstaff, director of AgriFood Futures at the University of Reading, said: “The UK chocolate industry rests on a supply chain that starts thousands of miles away in the tropics of Africa, South America and Asia.
“A resilient global market is crucial to the many smallholder farmers who underpin the industry and find themselves farming in some of the regions most exposed to risks from climate change, as well as to chocolate makers and chocolate lovers in the UK.”
Just six limited-edition bars have been produced so far, though Ms Khan has expressed her ambition to make additional ones.
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