How to save the global chocolate supply? Reinvent chocolate

Candy prices in the US have risen 44% since 2021 amid a global cocoa bean supply crisis. Entrepreneurs are developing lab-grown chocolate and substitutes from agricultural waste to keep the product available.

Candy prices in the US have risen 44% since 2021, driven by a global cocoa bean supply crisis caused by extreme weather events and economic pressures that have pushed growers into poverty. In response, entrepreneurs are using pharmaceutical industry methods to produce 'biologically identical' cocoa cells in the lab. Companies like California Cultured and Celleste are growing cocoa in bioreactors, hoping to launch products by 2028. Meanwhile, companies like Voyage Foods are making cocoa substitutes from agricultural waste, such as roasted grape seeds and sunflower flour. Regulators are allowing a 'quiet replacement' of real chocolate with similar substitutes. Voyage Foods CEO Adam Maxwell emphasizes the goal is to keep the product available at an affordable price, not to deceive consumers.