Cocoa Futures Have “Big Chocolate” Ponying Up Millions for Lab-Grown Chocolate.
And you can’t blame them.
Check out this chart …
Over the past 4 years, cocoa futures have climbed as high as 300%.
To be sure, the biggest moves have come over the past year. And while these prices will fluctuate from time to time, the general consensus on cocoa is that high prices are here to stay.
You see, earlier this year, we saw evidence that an El Nino resulted in extremely dry temperatures in West Africa. This is where the majority of the world’s cocoa is grown.
This is of particular concern as changing weather patterns have affected cocoa yields so much, some analysts are suggesting that they’re now permanently impaired. Not just because of this particular El Nino, either. But because of a continuation of changing weather patterns and extreme weather events that are becoming the new normal.
Now it’s understood that cocoa crops typically have to be grown within 10 degrees north and south of the equator. This is why the largest producers of cocoa are in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
The problem is that increasing temperatures in those regions could make it harder and harder to maintain those cultivation regions.
Some have even suggested that chocolate could become completely extinct by 2050.
It is plausible that the regions once known for commercial cocoa production will see a significant reduction in yields But rest assured, chocolate will not just disappear from the planet.
Cocoa Futures Push “Big Chocolate” to Lab-Grown Cocoa
While West Africa is sure to experience some real damage to its cocoa industry, other parts of the world are in position to increase cocoa production. Particularly Ecuador and Brazil, with the latter expected to double production by 2030.
There’s also opportunity in new food technologies that are facilitating the production of cocoa in labs. I wrote about this earlier in the year when I highlighted a company called California Cultured. This is a company that produces cocoa from cell structures. And this allows process of growing and harvesting cocoa to take days instead of the months or years.
The product is actually quite fascinating. It has identical characteristics to any piece of chocolate that you find at the store – down to the last molecule.
The reason I told you about California Cultured earlier in the year was because the company had just landed a partnership with Japan’s largest chocolate company, Meiji Holdings (OTCBB: MEJHY). To be sure, this is a major player boasting a market cap of more than $6.6 billion.
And I’m telling you about California Cultured again, today, because last week, the company announced an undisclosed investment from the Belgian international group Puratos.
If you’re unfamiliar, Puratos is an ingredients supplier for bakeries and the chocolate industry. It boasts 75 production units in 52 countries. Chances are, at some point in your life, you’ve eaten something that included ingredients from Purato. After all, the company has supplied ingredients to Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, McDonalds and Walmart – just to name a few.
And now it’s ponying up to get a piece of one of the most successful lab-grown chocolate makers in the world. California Cultured.
As we continue to recognize companies that are providing new products and technologies that will help the world adapt to a changing climate, it’s important to note just how integral food tech is in this process of adaptation. From cellular agriculture to lab-grown meat to precision fermentation, many of today’s food tech startups are providing the blueprint for how we will grow and consume our food and nutrients in the coming decades.
This isn’t to say conventional farming will go gently into that good night. It won’t. But indeed, this next generation of food technology will complement what our farms provide for us today. And it will have to. Because in order to feed 10 billion people by 2050, we’re going to need a lot more healthy soil and clean water. Two things that are becoming harder and harder to secure in a post-climate world.
