Chocolate Company Plans to Produce Lab-Grown Cocoa
A partnership between Puratos and California Cultured aims to deliver commercially viable lab-grown chocolate by the end of 2026. The firms say they are directly growing the tissue that becomes chocolate, from cocoa samples with ideal flavor profiles.CEO Alan Perlstein told CN...
A partnership between Puratos and California Cultured aims to deliver commercially viable lab-grown chocolate by the end of 2026. The firms say they are directly growing the tissue that becomes chocolate, from cocoa samples with ideal flavor profiles.
CEO Alan Perlstein told CNBC that the process involves taking cells from cocoa plants with desirable flavors and growing them in nutrient tanks. The output becomes real chocolate after sufficient growth, with “days instead of months” cited by the company.
CNBC notes that it can take a minimum of six months to prepare and up to three years to ramp an industrial production line. This project is among several pursuing a lab-grown alternative to farmed cocoa, though barriers remain: regulation, consumer acceptance, and cost.
Since 2024, California Cultured has pursued FDA regulatory approval, needing a GRAS certification to bring product to market. Consumer acceptance is a challenge as major brands rely on established identities. Regardless, production cost is a hurdle; as of 2025, lab-grown chocolate was still substantially more expensive than traditional chocolate due to limited scale.
If viable, lab-grown cocoa could significantly impact the $123 billion chocolate industry and the livelihoods of smallholders in the global south. Puratos frames the urgency around climate: lab-grown cocoa could be a climate-independent and sustainable complement to traditional farming, boosting resilience of the chocolate sector while supporting existing cocoa ecosystems.
The transition raises questions for farmers' rights and the wider economics of cocoa supply chains. While lab-grown approaches offer potential benefits, they also introduce pricing and market-acceptance uncertainties. The broader industry remains under pressure to seek alternatives.