It’s a distressing situation for many serotonin lovers around the world: Two of
the world’s most beloved treats — chocolate and coffee — are made from
two of our most climate-challenged commodities: Crop yields and prices for both
coffee and cacao are becoming increasingly
volatile
as extreme weather hampers production in the tropical, equatorial regions where
both are cultivated.
But researchers, brands and startup innovators are busy developing potential
solutions to save both of our favorite indulgences: On the coffee front,
Starbucks has developed climate-resistant coffee tree
varietals;
VTT researchers have added the brew to the growing list of
foods
that could pivot from land-grown to lab-grown
cultivation;
and a growing number of startups are upcycling various forms of food waste to
recreate the brew without the climate-sensitive
beans.
As for chocolate, UK startup WNWN has replaced cacao with
climate-friendlier
ingredients;
and both researchers and brands are working to expand use of the whole cacao
plant
to increase the resilience of cocoa farms.
And now, a team of researchers has found three new species of plants that are
close relatives to cacao — a discovery that could pave the way for climate-proof
chocolate.
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The new species, discovered in the western basin of the Amazon rainforest,
are closely related to Theobroma cacao — the tree that produces cocoa beans,
which are of tremendous culinary and economic importance.
The research team — comprising scientists from University College
Cork (UCC), the University of São
Paulo
and New York Botanical Garden — hail their finding as
significant, as it indicates the amount of work yet to be done to characterize
Earth's biodiversity.
The team, which includes Dr James
Richardson of UCC’s
School of Biological, Earth & Environmental
Sciences (BEES) and the Environmental Research
Institute, found three new species within the section Herrania: T.
globosum, T. nervosum and T. schultesii.
“These new species were discovered as a result of studying specimens in herbaria
and demonstrate the importance of maintaining these natural history collections,
as many more species remain to be discovered within them,” Richardson said.
“That there were recently unknown species closely related to Theobroma cacao,
which is of huge importance for the production of chocolate and other products,
shows how much more work there is to be done to catalogue the vast amount of
unknown biodiversity across our planet.”
The discovery reinforces a recent campaign from Natura, Forbes and
Africa Creative that put the Amazon atop Forbes’ Billionaires
list
— highlighting the power and value of the rainforest’s $317B bioeconomy, and
that the standing forest is worth seven times more than the potential earnings
from its destruction.
Richardson said the team’s discovery — published in the journal, Kew
Bulletin — could
lead to the development of more climate-resilient cacao trees, which would help
sustain the production of products derived from cacao such as chocolate.
“Cacao prices have trebled in recent months due to low production, as a result
of a prolonged period of drought in West Africa — which is the area of
greatest production,” Richardson said. “The discovery of new species, in
addition to those already known, expands the genetic resources that are
available to us that might allow us to produce drought-tolerant or
disease-resistant cacao trees.”
In the meantime, chocolate lovers everywhere would do well to keep in mind the
instability — and broader
environmental
and social
impacts
— behind production of their favorite treat, and make more conscious purchasing
decisions.
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Sustainable Brands Staff
Published Aug 1, 2024 8am EDT / 5am PDT / 1pm BST / 2pm CEST