A chocolate bar has been made using entirely British ingredients for the first time in nearly a century, with cocoa from not Brazil or Bali, but Berkshire.
Created at the University of Reading, it was named the Reading 100 Chocolate Bar to mark the university’s 100th anniversary.
It is the first of its kind since 1932, when Rowntrees gifted a six-year-old Princess Elizabeth the only other bar of UK-grown chocolate ever made.
Food security master’s student Maha Khan created the chocolate bar by harvesting, fermenting and processing the Reading-grown cocoa.
While the UK’s chocolate market is worth £10.4bn, it is entirely reliant on imported cocoa.
Maha told the Today programme she made the bar to highlight the challenges facing the cocoa growing industry.
She said: “It is incredible that we can make 100% British chocolate – but in the context of climate change, pests and diseases, there are estimates that 30 to 40% is lost.
“And we’ve seen with these heatwaves, climate change, these problems and challenges are only going to get exacerbated.”
