The new ‘solution’ to ‘climate-related cocoa shortages’.
Photo: SMU

The GMO takeover continues.

LAB GROWN CHOCOLATE

A new generation of chocolate made without traditional cocoa farming is edging closer to commercial reality, with ‘lab-grown cocoa’ and ‘cocoa-free’ alternatives poised to enter the food system in 2026 – continuing the increasing trend of new GMO products.

While supermarkets are unlikely to be filled with lab grown bars just yet, industry insiders say the shift marks ‘one of the most significant transformations in the history of chocolate’.

At the forefront of this change is Belgian ingredients group Puratos, which has announced plans to launch the world’s first chocolate made using cultured cocoa cells.

Rather than relying on cacao trees grown in tropical climates, scientists ‘cultivate cocoa cells’ in controlled environments known as “bioreactors”.

The result is a product designed to replicate the flavour and structure of conventional chocolate, but without the need for large-scale agriculture.

Extracting cells to produce lab-grown chocolate.
Photo: SKI

The first wave is expected to be sold to chefs, food manufacturers and industrial partners, allowing companies to experiment with the ingredient before it reaches mainstream retail.

Analysts suggest it may take several more years before fully ‘cell-cultured’ chocolate products become widely available in supermarkets.

In the meantime, shoppers are more likely to encounter a different category of innovation: ‘cocoa-free’ chocolate alternatives.

These products, which mimic the taste and texture of chocolate using ingredients such as fermented grains or legumes, are already beginning to appear in select markets.

Unlike lab grown cocoa, these alternatives do not use cacao cells at all, but are designed to ‘recreate the sensory experience’ of chocolate through novel processes.

The urgency behind these developments is rooted in a growing cocoa supply chain ‘crisis’.

Major producing regions in West Africa have been hit by a combination of extreme weather, crop disease and ageing plantations, leading to reduced harvests and volatile prices.

The resulting supply constraints have pushed cocoa costs to historic highs, placing pressure on manufacturers and raising concerns about long-term availability.

For companies such as Cadbury and other major confectionery producers, the situation has accelerated investment in alternative ingredients.

While traditional chocolate is unlikely to disappear, diversification is increasingly seen as ‘essential’ to ‘ensure supply stability and manage costs in an unpredictable climate’.

While some shoppers may welcome a more sustainable and potentially ethical form of chocolate, others may be wary of products developed in laboratory settings.

Either way, early adopters in the food industry will serve as a testing ground, while alternative chocolate products are likely to lead the charge in retail.

The shift reflects a larger trend of GMO products hitting our shelves for the first time, as environmental and political factors threaten entire species of crops.

Instead of adequately solving the issue, corporations and governments are abandoning the natural world all together – in favour of next-generation Frankenstein Foods.

Australia has already fallen victim to this growing transformation.

THE GMO TAKEOVER

The CRISPR-led GMO takeover is a worldwide agenda, and many citizens who live in Western countries have no idea their products are being replaced with synthetic junk.

The recent discovery of a ‘supercharged’ CRISPR technique allows scientists the opportunity to transform seeds, crops, and foods in a way that ‘connects them to the environment’.

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This transition towards GMO has been particularly prevalent over the past decade or so.

It began in Australia when we deregulated CRISPR gene-editing methods for numerous products at the end of 2019, in a move experts said threatened organic production.

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This was the first step.

Since then, genetically modified crops have exploded in Australia, including things like cotton, canola, safflower, and more.

In 2024, for example, Australia approved the world’s first GM bananas, making them the first genetically-modified fruit available for cultivation and consumption at home.

How many people were aware of that?

More recently, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently approved updated definitions for genetically modified food in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Now, any foods made using new breeding techniques like genome editing will now not be classified as GM food if the genetic change doesn’t introduce novel DNA.

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So, even if you did want to know what is GMO, they no longer are required to tell you.

This troubling shift is happening across many countries.

In Europe, the biotech industry is waging an ongoing battle to get its newly-advanced methods of genetic modification excluded from European GMO regulations.

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In New Zealand, the government also confirmed an end the country’s nearly 30-year ban on genetically modified organisms outside the lab last year.

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You can now add chocolate to the list of products that will soon come from a laboratory, or will be so removed of cocoa ingredients they are basically a different kind of food.

I am reminded of the dystopia George Orwell wrote about many years ago, where ‘food’ tastes like food, yet isn’t really food at all.