Startup grows cocoa in laboratory as climate change threatens chocolate supplies

(1 Sep 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
West Sacramento, California – 28, 2024
1. Employees working in lab of California Cultured
2. Various cocoa cells in petri dishes
3. Various of employee removing cocoa cells from petri dish
4. Perlstein removes beaker with growing cocoa cells
5. Close-up of flash with cocoa cells
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Perlstein, California Cultured CEO:
"So we find a rare and desirable cocoa species around the planet. We then take a cutting of the cocoa bean, put them onto plates, and we trick basically the cocoa cells to grow and divide. And after a certain level of growth, we’re able to harvest that and transform that into chocolate."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Quito, Ecuador – January 25, 2019
8. Various of chocolate in production

ASSOCIATED PRESS
West Sacramento, California – 28, 2024
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Perlstein, California Cultured CEO:
"Unfortunately, what’s happened with the rapid love of chocolate and coffee globally, this has led to devastating global deforestation in these tropical areas. In addition, there’s issues of slave labor, pollution."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: San Martín de Pangoa, Peru – 21 September 2019
10. Various of cacao growing on trees
11. Various of locals splitting the cacao to show its fruit

ASSOCIATED PRESS
West Sacramento, California – 28, 2024
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Perlstein, California Cultured CEO:
"So climate change is impacting the chocolate industry by, first of all, making it too warm for many species to prosper. And that has led to massive drops in yield around the world in cacao."

ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Djodjagnoa, Ivory Coast – 27 February 2024
13. Various of farmers with pile of cacao kernels

ASSOCIATED PRESS
West Sacramento, California – 28, 2024
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Alan Perlstein, California Cultured CEO:
"We’re basically developing the underlying technology that you could actually grow chocolate and coffee anywhere in the world without some of these exploitative or destructive practices."
15. California Cultured employees working at table
16. Employee measuring sugar to feed cocoa cells
17. Perlstein showing flashes growing cocoa cells
18. Large glass container with growing cocoa cells
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Ashley Arnell, BioMADE program manager:
"As climate change progresses, we’re only going to see more threats to our supply chain. And so it’s great to have the opportunity to produce things domestically and sustainably."
20. Perlstein showing cocoa pellets made by California Cultured
21. Close-up of hand holding cocoa pellets
22. Perlstein eating cocoa pellets

STORYLINE:
Climate change is stressing rainforests where the highly-sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate lovers need not despair, say companies that are researching other ways to grow cocoa or develop cocoa substitutes.

Advanced samples have already been created by agricultural/food scientists across the globe, from Northern California to the country of Israel.

California Cultured, a plant cell culture company, is growing cocoa from cell cultures at a facility in West Sacramento, with plans to start selling its products next year. It puts cocoa bean cells in a vat with sugar water so they reproduce quickly and reach maturity in a week rather than the six to eight months a traditional harvest takes, said Alan Perlstein, the company’s chief executive. The process also no longer requires as much water or arduous labor.

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