Melted chocolate whirred around a melanger in California Cultured’s workshop, destined to be poured, hardened and broken into little squares. A tasty dessert, not yet legal to sell in the U.S.

This chocolate didn’t come from cacao pods in South America or Africa. It was grown in laboratory flasks and metal tanks inside a West Sacramento industrial park, part of a growing regional trend.

Yolo County has long been an agricultural hub. Now, its food tech companies are shaping what we eat in a different way.