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Climate change is stressing rainforests where the highly sensitive cocoa bean grows, but chocolate lovers need not despair, say companies that are researching other ways to grow cocoa or develop cocoa substitutes. Scientists and entrepreneurs are working on ways to make more cocoa that stretch well beyond the tropics, from Northern California to Israel. California Cultured, a plant cell culture company, is growing cocoa from cell cultures at a facility in West Sacramento, California, with plans to start selling its products next year. It puts cocoa bean cells in a vat with sugar water so they reproduce quickly and reach maturity in a week rather than the six to eight months a traditional harvest takes, said Alan Perlstein, the company's chief executive. The process also no longer requires as much water or arduous labour. We see just the demand of chocolate monstrously outstripping what is going to be available, Perlstein said. There's really no other way that we see that the world .
Domestic customers will get access to high-quality Swiss products such as watches, chocolates, biscuits, and clocks at lower prices as India will phase out customs duties under its trade pact with the EFTA bloc on these goods over a period of time. India and the four-European nation bloc EFTA signed a trade and economic partnership agreement (TEPA) on Sunday to boost trade and investments between the two regions. The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members are Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. It will take up to a year to implement the agreement due to an elaborate ratification process of these pacts in different countries. "We are giving duty concessions on Swiss watches, and chocolates," an official said. Some famous Swiss watch brands are Rolex, Omega, and Cartier. Nestle, which is a Swiss brand, is a major player in the Indian FMCG industry and manufactures chocolates in India. It is the third-largest listed entity in the Indian FMCG segment. According
Cote d'lvoire, the world's largest cocoa producer and exporter, on Saturday announced the farm gate price of 1,000 CNF Franc per kilogram (Rs 133.09 )for the main crop of the 2023-24 marketing year starting October 1. The cocoa farm gate price, which is similar to India's minimum support price fixed for a dozen commodities, is a rate below which buyers are not allowed to pay. The farm gate price for cocoa, largely used in manufacturing chocolate, was at 900 CFA Franc per kilogram (Rs 120 per kg). CFA Franc is the currency of Cote d'lvoire. In India, no farm gate price is fixed for cocoa but usually the market rate of the commodity is higher. India produces only 27,000 tonne cocoa annually but imports about 1 lakh tonne of cocoa products. Announcing the price, Cote d'lvoire Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani said: " We have fixed the cocoa farm gate price at 1,000 CNF Franc per kg for the main crop of this year. I declare 2023-24 marketing ...