Who needs a golden ticket? The race to future-proof chocolate

A University of Reading master's student has made a chocolate bar entirely from British-grown ingredients, using cocoa grown in the university's greenhouses.

Maha Khan harvested cocoa pods from the university's greenhouses and combined them with British-made milk and sugar to make six bars, named The Reading 100 to mark the university's centenary. The pods would otherwise have been discarded. Khan said the project showed that the university already had the cocoa growing and processing facilities, but no one had made chocolate from them before.

The stunt draws attention to the International Cocoa Quarantine Centre (ICQC) at the university, which holds more than 300 cocoa varieties shielded from pests and diseases. Plants are quarantined for two years in its greenhouses, where scientists simulate current and future climate conditions. Cuttings are then sent to research institutes worldwide for breeding programmes aimed at higher yields and better tolerance to climate change and pests.

Cocoa supply is under pressure: extreme heat has stunted plants and poor harvests have pushed prices up, and West Africa produces around two-thirds of the world's cocoa. The US Department of Agriculture co-funded the ICQC until it withdrew support in March 2025, and Khan hopes the publicity will help attract new funding.

Key points

• Six bars made from UK-grown cocoa, milk and sugar, named The Reading 100.
• The University of Reading's ICQC holds more than 300 cocoa varieties under quarantine.
• Extreme heat has stunted cocoa plants and pushed prices up.
• The US Department of Agriculture withdrew ICQC funding in March 2025.
• Khan hopes the publicity will attract new funding for the centre.