It looks like traditional chocolate, but there are two essential differences. The taste has a fine hint of mammy, and to make it, not cocoa beans are used, but rye from Paijätämäki.
Director of product development for Fazer sweets Heli Anttila describes the chocolate maker’s innovation.
– We are thinking about whether there are other raw materials that can be used to make a product as delicious as chocolate. Cocoa has a rich flavor profile and many flavor components. We chose domestic malted rye and made a candy bar out of it, which has a mouthfeel very close to chocolate made from cocoa.
The Finnish chocolate giant is now preparing for the horror scenario of chocolate lovers, running out of cocoa beans.
Two-thirds of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa. Cacao is cultivated near the equator in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America.
Climate change and the resulting increased drought threaten to wipe out the cocoa bean in the next few decades.
In the areas where cocoa is cultivated, the average temperature is estimated to rise by more than two degrees. It may be too much for the cacao plant.
According to some estimates, the end of cocoa cultivation is already looming in the 2050s.
Professor of global water and food issues at Aalto University Matti Kummu considers climate change a real threat to cocoa.
– In the largest production areas in West Africa, the growing area will become narrower as temperatures rise and drought and heavy rains increase. In these areas, extreme weather phenomena have already increased and will continue to increase. It is difficult for cocoa trees to survive in such conditions, says Kummu.
Ivory Coast is the world’s largest cocoa bean producer. Almost half of the world’s cocoa is grown there.
In its capital, Abidjan, the director general of the international cocoa organization ICCO answers the phone Michel Arrion.
Arrion, who is from Belgium, says that the talk about the disappearance of cocoa is partly exaggerated.
– The effects of climate change can be seen in cocoa cultivation, but I would still rather talk about climate disturbances. The amount of rain has not so much decreased, but it comes at the wrong time and messes up the entire farming system and the annual calendar.
With climate change, plant diseases that are fatal to cocoa trees will also spread more easily.
– However, with the help of science, species can be found that are more resistant to drought and plant diseases, Arrion says.
Arrion would therefore not incite unnecessary panic.
According to him, cocoa cultivation will move slightly further north with the heat.
According to Matti Kummu, however, we will not see cocoa trees in Europe.
– Cocoa requires that there should be enough water almost every month, which only happens at the equator. The temperatures should also be fairly constant throughout the year, since it is a tropical plant after all.
Cocoa is produced in the south and consumed in the north
Approximately five million tons of cocoa are produced annually. Half of it ends up in Europe and a large part in North America.
Roughly speaking, cocoa is cultivated in the southern and consumed in the northern hemisphere.
From European countries, the most cocoa beans are exported to the Netherlands. According to Michel Arrion, the reason is explained by history.
– At one time, the Dutch brought cocoa from their colony in Indonesia and established production plants around the port of Amsterdam where the cocoa is ground and further processed. Now these production facilities are owned by large companies.
Cocoa beans are processed into, for example, cocoa powder, cocoa butter and cocoa mass, which are sold on to chocolate manufacturers and food companies.
The global chocolate business is dominated by about a dozen multinational companies. These include Mars, Ferrero and Mondelez, which is known for its Marabou and Milka brands, among others.
On the other hand, cacao cultivation is practiced by around six million small farmers.
Cocoa is not only processed but also consumed in Europe.
The most chocolate is eaten in Switzerland, a good ten kilos per person per year. A Finn eats six kilos of chocolate a year. For comparison, in China, for example, the average chocolate consumption per person is only a couple of hundred grams per year.
Michel Arrion reminds us that the consumption of chocolate is directly connected to the standard of living and purchasing power. In poor countries, it is hardly eaten.
The world market price of cocoa this year has been highest in 46 years. Drought and plant diseases are inoculating cocoa crops already and the market has reacted to the predicted meager harvest.
According to Arrion, the increase in the price of cocoa is not reflected in the pockets of the farmers, many of whom live in poverty.
– The beneficiaries are the multinational chocolate companies that have made huge profits despite the pandemic and inflation.
What would cell cultured cocoa taste like?
In addition to alternative raw materials, Fazer has been looking for other ways to prepare for the cocoa shortage.
Together with VTT, the company is investigating whether cocoa beans can be grown using cell culture.
According to Heli Anttila, the results look promising.
– A cell is taken from the cocoa bean, which is placed in a broth in a bioreactor, where the right nutrients, the right temperature and the right conditions are put. It would seem that the cacao cell can be made to grow there.
Does the cell cultured cocoa bean taste like real cocoa?
– It’s not quite the same, but the development project is underway. The taste is affected, for example, by what kind of food is given to it. So the idea is to create the same conditions in a different place as for regular cocoa. In principle, through cell culture, raw cocoa can be obtained, which is processed so that the flavor profile in the final product is delicious.
In the video below, Heli Anttila, product development director of Fazer Makeiste, talks about cocoa cell culture.
But about the future of the cocoa bean.
Are we the last generation to enjoy chocolate made from cocoa?
According to Aalto University’s Matti Kummu, cocoa can still survive. However, it requires investment in cultivation.
– There are many ways to adapt farming to climate change. Shading plants such as coconut and banana trees can be used in cultivation, which filter heat and slow down water evaporation. You should also prepare for dry seasons by collecting rainwater and using artificial irrigation.
Kummu reminds us of the responsibility of chocolate companies in the development of cocoa cultivation.
– Chocolate producers could invest even more in the training of farmers and make greater investments in adapting to the changing climate.
According to Michel Arrion, chocolate companies have an ethical and moral responsibility for the preservation of cocoa cultivation.
– Chocolate companies still do not pay enough for cocoa beans. If farmers were not kept in poverty, they would send their children to school, buy their own farmland and farm it more sustainably.
You can discuss the topic on 28.10. until 11 p.m.