Why the future of chocolate could be cocoa-free

Mar 19, 2026

What if the future of your favourite chocolate bar doesn’t involve cocoa beans at all? Record-high cocoa prices and failing crops are forcing big brands to think outside the wrapper.

As any chocolate-lover would know, the cost of chocolate has been… ahem… a bit on the steep side of late. Easter eggs are through the roof, while even our friends Freddo Frog and Caramello Koala have had to up their asking price. A perfect storm of climate change, severe weather and crop disease in recent years has destroyed many plantations in the world’s key cocoa-growing regions in West Africa. This has led to huge cocoa shortages, and equally huge price rises. Cocoa prices surged to an unprecedented USD $11,900 per metric ton in 2024 – more than four times the historical average, according to Rabobank. While prices went down again in late 2025, they’re still around double what they were in 2023.

In response, manufacturers have ramped up their own prices and, in some cases, reduced the amount of cocoa used in their products to save on manufacturing costs. In the US, Brad Reese – the grandson of the man who invented Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups – made headlines after revealing that several Reese’s and Hershey’s products were now made with a cheaper compound chocolate coating rather than milk chocolate. But while some cut corners, other companies are exploring new cocoa alternatives.

Nestlé Choco Crossies ‘Snack Vibes’ with ChoViva.

Cocoa-free chocolate: a bitter alternative?

This April, Nestlé Germany is expanding its Nestlé Choco Crossies ‘Snack Vibes’ line to include ChoViva – a cocoa-free chocolate alternative. ChoViva was created by Planet A Foods, a German food-tech company which creates ‘future-ready solutions’ for the food industry. The choc substitute is made from fermented and roasted sunflower seeds, which the company says replicates the flavours and fat in chocolate. These are mixed with plant-based fats, grapeseed flour and sugar. Lindt also partnered with ChoViva in 2023 to produce a limited-edition vegan chocolate bar.

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Lab-grown chocolate: sweet or scary?

Last month, Belgian ingredient developer and producer Puratos announced that it would soon be launching the world’s first-ever chocolate product for professionals containing cultured cocoa. Developed in partnership with California Cultured, which produces lab-grown cocoa and coffee, the product is expected to become commercially available to US manufacturers later this year.

What is lab-grown chocolate?

Unlike substitutes, lab-grown cocoa is biologically identical to the real thing. Because it’s cultured directly from cacao cells, producers can replicate its exact flavour profile, right down to the last molecule. However, the technology remains in its infancy and faces significant hurdles, including high production costs, scalability issues, regulatory approval and consumer acceptance.

Cadbury Favourites — Cadbury has long been a favourite. Now they’re playing the long game.

Big brands head into the lab

Meanwhile, Lindt has invested in Swiss company Food Brewer, which produces cultured cocoa and coffee; and Mondelēz International – the mega multinational manufacturer behind Cadbury chocolate – has invested in Israeli cocoa-tech company Celleste Bio, which produces cocoa butter from cultured cocoa cells, and is expected to be ready for commercial production by 2027.

We reached out to Mondelēz to see if they could provide us with any juicy details.

“Our primary focus is strengthening the sustainability and resilience of cocoa, including investing in climate-smart farming, improving productivity and expanding the geographic diversity of supply,” a Mondelēz International spokesperson told us.

“At the same time, we closely monitor and selectively explore innovations emerging across the food system… Innovation complements, not replaces, cocoa. We continue to explore new technologies responsibly, while staying focused on protecting the role of traditional cocoa in chocolate making.”

Haigh's chocolate frogs — Haigh’s iconic chocolate frogs.

Australian chocolate: keeping it real

While all chocolate producers have felt the pinch of rising cocoa prices and operating costs, not everyone is looking for alternative ways to make a bean. Haigh’s Chocolates – Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate maker – plans to continue doing what it has always done: making excellent chocolate with top-quality beans.

“As bean-to-bar specialists, we are passionate about producing premium artisan chocolate, which is only possible using high-quality ingredients, including cocoa beans,” says Haigh’s Chocolates CEO, Peter Millard.

“Through our strong relationships across the global supply chain, we believe that partnering with best-practice sustainable farming is the solution to improving cocoa supply from growing regions in the future.”

cacao pod — Cocoa farming faces critical sustainability challenges.

Is cocoa sustainable?

Intensive cocoa farming exacts a heavy environmental toll, driving widespread deforestation, water pollution and high greenhouse gas emissions. By contrast, lab-grown cocoa and other alternatives create a much smaller carbon footprint. These innovations can relieve the immense pressure on an agricultural industry struggling to meet global demand amid extreme climate volatility.

“We believe that cultured cocoa can act as a climate-independent and sustainable complement to traditional cocoa farming,” Puratos said in a statement. “By helping to ensure more consistent quality and supply in the face of climate change, this approach has the potential to strengthen the long-term resilience of the chocolate industry while continuing to support existing cocoa ecosystems.”

In other words, perhaps by accepting the necessity of one, we’ll get to always keep the other.