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With all the damage that international agricultural commodity chains cause, such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and underpaid farmers, you would almost wish we could produce goods like cocoa, coffee, or palm oil in a laboratory. Farmers could then use the freed-up land for food production or nature. Consumers would no longe run the risk of unintentionally contributing to inhumane working conditions in producing countries. Moreover, we would no longer ship good all over the world.

This dream is no longer wishful thinking. Earlier this year, major chocolate giant Mondelez announced its desire to replace chocolate with a lab-developed alternative. The company has started a partnership with Celleste Bio, a food-tech startup that manufactures cell-cultivated cocoa butter and powder using a combination of biotechnology and AI.

The reasoning behind this move sounds plausible: Mondelez is experiencing an increasingly volatile cocoa supply chain, driven in part by the impact of a changing climate on production. Furthermore, cultivation of cocoa butter in a laboratory is presented as a solution to sustainability challenges like deforestation and biodiversity loss. Reason enough, it seems, to invest in lab-grown cocoa.

Taste, Culture, and Craftsmanship

Chocoholics, however, could not believe their ears. For them, chocolate is intrinsically tied to taste, origin, culture, and craftsmanship. It is a delicacy born from a fruit that is shaped by climate, soil, and cultivation. The cocoa bean gets its unique flavor through a meticulous process of fermentation, drying, and roasting.

Critics argue that it is not simply a product you can replicate in a factory. The flavor of the final product is the result of a chain of processes. It is about a system of knowledge, labor, and environment, and how these interact with one another. When cocoa is manufactured in a laboratory, critics argue, we run the risk of flattening flavor into uniformity. Chocolate would no longer be a product that reflects a specific place and season, but rather something dictated by formulas and control.

Shifting Power and Bypassing Farmers

But more importantly: manufacturing cocoa butter in a laboratory signals a more fundamental shift. By making cocoa butter in the lab, Mondelez is not contributing to fixing a broken system; instead, it is distancing itself from it entirely. The company replaces a system of place, agriculture, culture, and people with a system driven by intellectual property and technology.

When production is decoupled from the land and reduced to a controlled process, it alters more than just how something is made – it changes who holds power over it. Cocoa transitions from something that is grown and processed into something that is designed and controlled. The question that must then be asked is: who gains power over this cocoa?

There is no denying that the problems within the supply chain are massive. Cocoa markets are volatile, farmers often earn below a living wage, and cocoa cultivation continues to contribute to deforestation. However, presenting this lab- technology as the solution means redefining the problem itself.

Instead of restoring a value chain that supports both land and livelihoods, the technology threatens to bypass it completely. Production becomes even more centralized, and power is consolidated further. Responsibility vanishes, and cocoa farmers are left without alternative options.

A Matter of Choice

Furthermore, the instability currently used to justify this shift did not emerge in a vacuum. It is the result of long-term pressure on cocoa as a raw commodity, low prices, concentration of power, and the gradual erosion of value at the source. These are structural conditions, largely shaped by the very same companies that are now presenting themselves as innovators working towards a solution.

This trend is not unique to chocolate. Similar shifts are emerging across the entire food sector, where production is increasingly detached from the land and moved into controlled environments. Under the guise of climate action and biodiversity protection, this is often framed as inevitable. But even if this is the case it is important to reflect on who is making these choices and who gets a say in our food

Replacing cocoa with a more stable alternative does not resolve the unequal power dynamics within the food system. By removing farmers from the supply chain, power only becomes more consolidated.

Ellen is also speaker at the event! Click here: https://viceversaonline.nl/2026/04/14/making-international-value-chains-work-for-everyone/