North Korea has reportedly developed a technology to make chocolate using domestically grown soybeans as the main ingredient and completed a patent registration.
On the 22nd, the Pyongyang-based Choson Sinbo reported this under the headline, "Replacing the cocoa powder, a chocolate flavoring made with domestic ingredients, with silkworm beans."
According to the report, faculty and researchers at Ryanggang Industrial University processed silkworm beans to replace cocoa powder, the basic ingredient of chocolate, and produced chocolate that is nutritionally no different.
It also said that the Chongbong General Food Factory in Ryanggang Province has introduced the production method for the silkworm bean chocolate and is normalizing it, adding that people who tasted the chocolate made this way "said it was surprising."
Chocolate is classified as a luxury item subject to sanctions against North Korea by countries around the world, and its export is banned. In a notable case, Japan in 2016 arrested a trader who exported chocolate and cookies to North Korea.
In addition, with cocoa—the key ingredient in chocolate—seeing sharp price increases due to the effects of climate change and raw materials becoming difficult to procure, it appears the technology was developed as a substitute.
The paper explained the background of the development, saying, "Because most of the ingredients needed for (chocolate) production were not domestically produced, we faced a series of constraints in normalizing production."
Research to make alternative chocolate using silkworm beans as a raw material is also being commercialized overseas, including in the United Kingdom.