A Threat to Craft Chocolate? | #PodSaveChocolate Ep 104
Episode 104 is a response to an OpEd penned by Alastair (Ali) Gower of Chocolate Tree (Scotland), published in the industry newsletter Cocoa Radar. While the OpEd posits questions about the definition of craft, it questions how (some) companies market themselves as being craft. [ Updated ]
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Clay Gordon
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Episode 104 Overview
Before there was Ocelot Chocolate there was Original Beans. And before there was Original Beans, there was Felchlin.
In between Felchlin and Original Beans (timewise, not connection-wise) were Noka and The Mast Brothers (aka Mast aka Mast Pantry). A common thread that can be drawn between Ocelot, Original Beans, Mast, and Noka connects a question of how they are representing what they are and do (and don’t do).
Shortly after the publication of the OpEd in Cocoa Radar, Ali reached out to me wondering if I’d read the article and what I thought about the points he made. We corresponded and he graciously consented to my taking this topic on.
Anyone who has followed my work for any length of time knows that I take word meanings very seriously and am very careful not to conflate meanings unnecessarily. (This aligns with the principle of William of Ockham’s (or Occam’s) Razor, which recommends searching for explanations that incorporate the fewest assumptions.)
In this episode I’ll take a look at what Ali proposes and explore some its ramifications – including where I agree and disagree, and where more work needs to be done to clarify the use of terminology.
If you are a craft/bean-to-bar chocolate maker, pay attention to the way you are representing yourself as you may be inadvertently misleading your customers. From the experiences with Nokan and Mast, we know how that can turn out in the end. (And it’s not pretty.)
Primary Links
Anthony Myers
Chocolate Tree came to my attention in recent weeks because of an OpEd that was published in CocoaRadar.
“Our Craft Chocolate”
Resources
scott
10-part series
Megan Giller
The first salvo across the bow of the Mast Bros ship, March 2015.
scott
4-part series
Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
Questions?
If you have questions or want to comment, you can do so during the episode or, if you are a ChocolateLife member, you can add them in the Comments below at any time.
More Episode Hashtags and Social Media Links
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate
#PodSaveChoc #PSC
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife
Future Episodes
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Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon
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