Check out Context News’ informative video on cell-cultured chocolate.

California Cultured’s lab-grown chocolate looks, feels and almost tastes like the real thing. “We’re still in R&D mode,” says Steven Stearns, Head of Strategy & Business Development at the startup based in Davis, California. Their goal is to create delicious, mass-produced chocolate, while sidestepping some of the problems related to cocoa harvesting that the traditional industry has been criticized for, including massive deforestation and child labour.

California Cultured uses a technology called plant cell culture. Instead of annual cocoa harvests, they take cells from select cocoa beans. The startup hopes to have some form of a chocolate product available for purchase next year. They are joined by other companies from Europe, Israel and the US working on similar products.

But it will probably be a while before we see their chocolates on store shelves. Getting the taste right and price low enough to compete with traditional chocolate are two big challenges. There’s also the question of what impact lab-grown chocolate will have on the millions of cocoa farmers in West Africa, who make a living harvesting most of our chocolate’s cocoa beans.