The candy giant is using Pairwise’s plant-breeding technology to improve cocoa production as climate challenges and disease send prices soaring.
What happened
Candy giant Mars is using gene-editing CRISPR technology to breed a better cocoa plant as climate challenges and disease pressure global chocolate production.
The Snickers and M&M’s maker is licensing the innovation from Pairwise, a seven-year-old company using CRISPR to change the DNA of fruits, vegetables and other plants.
Why it matters
Mars will use the tool to identify genetic traits that could help crops become disease-resistant or adapt to hotter temperatures.
A global cocoa shortage has raised costs dramatically, prompting food companies to raise chocolate prices.
Hershey in late July told retailers it would hike prices by double digits, citing the “unprecedented cost of cocoa.” The chocolate giant has also tweaked its innovation approach to rely less on chocolate and more on peanut butter, wafers and other trendy ingredients.
This news brief is based on reporting published by Food Dive on 2025-08-07. The original report is linked below.
Food Dive
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