How University of Guelph researchers are working to bring down the cost of chocolate [Video]

The cost of filling Easter baskets with chocolate has soared, but food scientists at the University of Guelph say they’ve developed ways to bring the price down.

Food science professor Alejandro Marangoni and research associate Saeed Ghazani have traded in the white hat of traditional chocolatiers for a white lab coat.

They’ve also noticed the cost of chocolate isn’t nearly as sweet as it tastes.

“Nowadays, many people would prepare to invest in cocoa butter instead of Bitcoin,” said Ghazani.

Long-term shortages of cocoa beans in west Africa, paired with extreme weather, is leading to crop failures of cacao trees, ultimately driving up the overall price of chocolate because of shortages and increased demand.

“The price is doubling, tripling, quadrupling. Some people say it will even go five times higher than before all of this was happening,” said Marangoni.

The team of researchers believes one method to keep the cost …