Scientists discover how chocolate gets its fine taste. Why it's a key breakthrough

Why does one bar of chocolate taste so smooth and fruity while another flat and bitter? This variation in flavour is due to the unpredictable and mysterious nature of the cocoa fermentation process. After cocoa pods are split open, farmers leave beans to ferment in wooden boxes or baskets for bacteria and fungi to go to work. Without this process, all chocolate would taste bitter. It’s cocoa fermentation that gives chocolate fine flavour.

Problem is, cocoa fermentation is like a “flavour lottery”. Since each farm relies on whatever microbes happen to be in its environment, growers can’t really tell what flavour or aroma their next harvest will have. A fine batch one season could be followed by a disappointing one in the next, leading to wastage and as a result, loss of incomes.