Episode 5 of PodSaveChocolate features a discussion of topics that have shown up in my feeds since the November News RoundUp episode. Plus the monthly #PSC AMA – Ask Me Anything (about cocoa and chocolate).
Click to watch in a new tab or window. Please subscribe (free!) to the @PodSaveChocolate YouTube channel as well as like this video, comment, and share to help grow the #PSC community.
Every month I host an episode in which I talk about stories – newsworthy and otherwise – that have come to my attention over the past month. This News RoundUp is that episode.
And I will be taking questions, AMA style, from participants during the livestream.
This Month’s Featured Stories
1️⃣
Legacy media covers illegal child labor on cocoa farms in W Africa.
Most Innovative Plant-Based or Alternative Ingredient: Arkeon
Most Innovative Processing Technology or Technology Platform: NIUM
Most Innovative Service or AI Solution Supporting the F&B Industry: Deep Detection
Most Innovative Sustainable Solution (Jury's Choice award): Planet A Foods and WNWN Food Labs (two winners in the same category for the first time in this competition).
Cocoa contains many of the same chemicals ... can there be a connection?
6️⃣
Market News:Top Cocoa Traders Hold Off on Buying in Ivory Coast Over High Prices. Top traders sitting out forward sales because of high prices. Costs of implementing EU-mandated tracking system a concern
We need one of these for cocoa – for all varieties.
🔟
Swedish telecoms company Tele2 has developed a connected chocolate box that sends a notification to your phone when the lid is opened. The connected chocolate box is available for consumers to win through a social media competition.
Tele2 conducted a survey finding that 4 out of 10 people sneak pieces from the Christmas chocolate box before the start of the holidays. 15 percent said they had experienced running out of Christmas sweets before the big day.
The connected box, dubbed “Chocolate Bytes,” helps avoid that last-minute dash to the shop by discovering the praline thief in good time before Christmas. A sensor detects if the lid is opened, triggering a notification to your phone. You can be at work and be alerted to any family members sneaking a piece.
In every episode of PodSaveChocolate I ask my guests and all participants (participating live or after the fact) to identify something they will commit to – this day, next week, next month, and next year to save chocolate. I hold myself to this task.
What I will commit to from this episode: There is a lot of value that can be derived from an open-access database of cocoa genetics (private databases exist) for fingerprinting and other uses. This is something I will work toward with International Cocoa Diplomacy.
Homework for Participants
What commitment will you make to the Pod Save Chocolate mission? Let us know in the comments below.
Not a Member?
Live The Chocolate Life – Live La Vida Cocoa! Sign up for Free to comment and receive members-only content.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. Premium subscriptions available.
Debora Patta
TheChocolateWire
Niamh Michail
Nick Brown
Mumbi Gitau
Sue Quinn
Birgitte Rasine
