First 100% British chocolate bar made since 1932

By Lauren Wilkin

A student from the University of Reading has created a chocolate bar made from entirely British ingredients - the first since 1932.

The cocoa pods were grown in a climate-controlled center at the university before being harvested.

Maha Khan, a food security master's student, then spread out and dried the beans in the English sun before they were crushed to make a powder, which was combined with British-grown sugar and milk.

The chocolate mix was then heated and made into a chocolate bar.

The only other 100% British chocolate bar was made in 1932 by Rowntrees and given to then six-year-old Princess Elizabeth – who later became Queen Elizabeth II.

Maha said: "It has been amazing to follow the entire chocolate-making process, from pod to bean to bar, without leaving Reading."

She described the chocolate as "delicious."

"It's incredible to taste the complexity of the flavor profiles as the cocoa is made from plants originating from over 300 varieties grown here," she said.

While the UK's chocolate market is worth £10.4 billion ($13.9 billion), it is entirely reliant on imported cocoa, highlighting the importance of internationally traded food to global farmers, UK consumers and the economy. The bars were made to highlight the effect of the climate crisis on cocoa plants.

"This British bar of chocolate highlights the precarious nature of our food supplies," Maha said.

"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.

"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."

The creation of the British-grown chocolate bar showed the complex process required to turn the raw crop into a finished product.

The British-grown cocoa was grown at the University of Reading's International Cocoa Quarantine Centre - a unique collection of more than 300 types of cocoa plant, which handles 97% of the world's international movement of cocoa plants.

The climate-controlled center in Berkshire is carefully managed to prevent the spread of pests and diseases between different cocoa-growing regions of the world, while also providing scientists with the opportunity to study the plants.

Cocoa pods from the center's collection are usually removed unused, but were instead used as the source of the beans for the new chocolate bar.

The first step involves breaking the pods open and removing the beans, fermenting the beans, before they are spread out and dried in the sun, and then roasted.

Maha then crushed and ground the beans to a consistent cocoa powder.

Next, she combined it with British-grown sugar and milk to create a chocolate mix, which was then heated, shaped and formed into a ready-to-eat, entirely British chocolate bar.

Rowntree's only previous bar of UK-grown chocolate was made from a glasshouse-grown cocoa plant, at the Rowntree headquarters in York.

The University of Reading is marking its 100th anniversary throughout 2026, celebrating a century of world-leading research, from food and farming to climate science.

Carol Wagstaff, director of AgriFood Futures at the University of Reading, said: "The UK chocolate industry rests on a supply chain that starts thousands of miles away in the tropics of Africa, South America and Asia.

"A resilient global market is crucial to the many smallholder farmers who underpin the industry and find themselves farming in some of the regions most exposed to risks from climate change, as well as to chocolate makers and chocolate lovers in the UK."

Only six limited edition bars have been made so far, but Maha hopes to make more.