Published: 00:02 BST, 12 August 2026 | Updated: 00:02 BST, 12 August 2026
Forget Belgian truffles and Swiss chocolate – this bar is about as British as they come, with cocoa grown not in the tropics, but in Berkshire.
Researchers from the University of Reading have created a chocolate bar made from entirely British ingredients.
The cocoa pods were grown in a climate–controlled centre at the university before being cracked open to harvest the beans.
These were then spread out, dried and fermented in the English sun, before being crushed into a powder.
This was combined with British–grown sugar and milk to create a chocolate mix which was then heated, shaped and formed into a ready–to–eat chocolate bar.
Amazingly, the chocolate bar is the first of its kind since 1932.Â
That year, Rowntrees gave a six–year–old Princess Elizabeth – who later became Queen Elizabeth II – the only other bar of UK–grown chocolate ever made.Â
Maha Khan, a food security master's student who created the chocolate bar, said: 'It has been amazing to follow the entire chocolate–making process, from pod to bean to bar, without leaving Reading.'
Researchers from the University of Reading have developed a chocolate bar made from entirely British ingredients. Pictured: Maha Khan, who created the bar
First, cocoa pods were grown in a climate–controlled centre at the university (left) before being cracked open to harvest the beans (right)
Ms Khan continued:Â 'This British bar of chocolate highlights the precarious nature of our food supplies.Â
'Cocoa plants are very sensitive to changes in temperature and rainfall, and climate change is already causing problems in countries that produce most of the world's cocoa.Â
'Protecting different varieties is vital if farmers need hardier plants that can cope with a changing climate.
'I hope this shows people just how much work goes into the chocolate we enjoy, and how important it is to protect cocoa farmers and communities around the world.'
