Category: Chocolate Stuff You Should Know
-
How Kokoa Kamili Put Tanzania On The Chocolate Map
While African coffees are prominent in the specialty market, high-quality cacao from the continent has lagged. For the most part, it’s a problem of reputation. Environmental and labor abuses in West African countries like Ivory Coast and Ghana often make headlines. Low-quality yields in East and Central Africa meant bean-to-bar producers have largely avoided using…
-
Destigmatizing West Africa Cocoa
Has anyone seen a bean-to-bar chocolate made from cacao from Ivory Coast? It’s a legitimate question. We may have seen one from Bonnat at one point, but not anything else. It’s telling that the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest cacao producing nation is absent from the craft chocolate scene. This is because cocoa from West…
-
Post-Scandal, The Mast Brothers Regroup
In craft chocolate, there is one pair of brothers known for their gumption, their signature old world style and past scandal that rocked their operation. Brothers Rick and Michael Mast were the subjects of a major blogging expose in 2015. The Mast brothers chose not to take action against their attackers and focus on their…
-
Infographic: Mondelez And Its Chocolate Empire
Formerly known as Kraft Foods (oh the irony), Mondelez peddles a host of food products that are bad for you. See infographic for some of their brands. The majority of their products, including chocolate, contain high amounts of sugars, chemical preservatives, and trans-fats. Mondelez says they dropped trans-fats in the early 2000s. However, the USDA…
-
Akesson: the Man Behind Madagascar Chocolate
Bertil Akesson is the man who put Madagascan chocolate on the map. He is also the one keeping Madagascar on the map by supplying about 95% of all cacao from the island. Imagine a European Indiana Jones. Trade some of his American brashness for a bit of European debonairness and you’ll come close to describing Mr.…