The cocoa chocolate industry, along with other sponsors including cocoa producing countries, funds research at universities and institutes around the world, to help improve our understanding of cocoa growing.

This investment in research can help farmers increase productivity for example by showing the best way to effectively control a variety of pests and diseases that affect crops. Plant breeding programmes can help develop new cocoa tree varieties that grow well in local environments. This research also provides knowledge for future generations of cocoa farmers

Better productivity will require better high yielding disease resistant cocoa trees. To facilitate this, an important collection of cocoa trees is maintained at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.