A British research team is studying the genetic composition of cocoa trees in a quest for the higher yields that may be needed early in the next century if the world is to have enough chocolate to satisfy demand in the booming economies of Asia. The short-term goal is to promote breeding of improved varieties of tree by using a new method of genetic fingerprinting. The findings could also form a basis for genetically engineered cocoa. Cocoa supply is more than adequate for present consumption and sliding prices reflect this. But analysts believe there may not be enough in the next decade to satisfy the demand if the Chinese, for instance, develop a craving for chocolate.
History shows that chocolate be- comes the ultimate indulgence when people's incomes rise.
Major Western chocolate manufacturers have already set up shop in China, Russia and other emerging economies to tap the potential demand. The main problem is China - 1.2 billion people. Geneticists are racing to produce a super- cocoa. You've got to be thinking long,long way ahead. The biggest snag is that cocoa can be grown only within a narrow corridor of 10 degrees north and south of the Equator where soil and weather conditions are just right.