News Roundup and AMA | #PodSaveChocolate

By Clay Gordon | | 7 min read
News Roundup and AMA | #PodSaveChocolate
Original photo by visuals on Unsplash / Pod graphic by: Sara Scodeller.

Episode 15 of #PodSaveChocolate features a roundup of recent news and AMA – Ask Me Anything (about cocoa and chocolate).

When and Where to Watch

🗓️
This episode airs live from 10:00 MST / 12:00 EST / 17:00 GMT on Tuesday, January 30th, 2024.
News Roundup and AMA | #PodSaveChocolate
This episode of #PodSaveChocolate features a discussion of news stories that have come to my attention over the past month as well as a regular AMA – Ask Me…
YouTube

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.

Link to watch and comment from my LinkedIn profile.
Link to watch and comment on TheChocolateLife page on Facebook.

Episode 15 Overview

This episode of #PodSaveChocolate features a discussion of news stories that have come to my attention over the past month as well as a regular AMA – Ask Me Anything (about cocoa and chocolate).

Links and Resources Mentioned in This Episode

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Updated to include additional resources mentioned during the livestream.
HOME | Salon Du Chocolat NY
Salon Du Chocolat NY

Just announced: November 8-10 (the Paris salon this year is Oct 30 - Nov 3).

Southwest Chocolate and Coffee Fest – The largest chocolate and coffee festival in the nation.

April 6-7, Albuquerque, NM

Eurochocolate, SITO UFFICIALE del festival internazionale del cioccolato
Eurochocolate, il festival internazionale del cioccolato più famoso dal 1994. Un’esperienza unica per conoscere il cioccolato con attività pensate per grandi e piccini.
EurochocolatePier Luigi Carnevale

October 18-27 either in Perugia or at the Umbriafiere

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Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival - Weekend of November 22-23, in Rushville, Indiana. Organized by the founder of the Craft Chocolat Challenge.
Finalists - Good Food Foundation
Tasty, Authentic, Responsible
Good Food Foundation
Complex challenges remain for sustainably grown cocoa
Cocoa producers are taking notice as consumers are interested in environment, fair treatment of farmers.
Food Business NewsMichelle Smith
This Startup Says It Makes the Most Sustainable Chocolate Ever
Voyage Foods has raised $22M in funding, as a life-cycle assessment calls its cocoa-free chocolate the most sustainable ever launched.
Green QueenAnay Mridul

Take the claims with a substantial amount of sodium chloride.

Voyage Foods Cocoa-Free Chocolate
Voyage Foods is committed to making delicious, sustainable & accessible foods that are better for people and the planet. Our Cocoa-Free Chocolate is free from dairy and cocoa, and is better on the environment. Learn more here.
Voyage Foods

It’s not legal to call this chocolate. Ingredients: Vegetable Oil Blend (RSPO Palm Oil, Shea Kernel Oil), Cane Sugar, Grape Seeds, Sunflower Protein Flour, Natural Flavors, Sunflower Lecithin, Salt. Carob-free. Also, this does not yet appear to be available for retail sale.

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Voyage’s coffee-free coffee is not coffee, IMO, though there is no section of the CFR devoted to coffee, as there is for cocoa products. Ingredients: Water, Roasted Chickpeas, Rice Hulls, Caffeine from Green Tea, Natural Flavors. This product is also not available at retail.
A global partnership to make palm oil sustainable - Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)
When grown sustainably, palm oil protects the environment, communities, employees and wildlife. Discover how RSPO is enabling these positive impacts.
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)

About RSPO.

California makes history as first state to ban food additives linked to disease
The state’s Food Safety Act takes effect in 2027 and will prohibit the sale of common ingredients in products like candy and soda.
Food DiveElizabeth Flood
Cocoa pods -- a source of chocolate, and potentially, flame retardants
As Halloween approaches, so too does the anticipation of a trick-or-treating stash filled with fun-sized chocolate candy bars. But to satisfy our collective craving for this indulgence, millions of cocoa pods are harvested annually. While the beans and pulp go to make chocolate, their husks are thrown away. Now, researchers show that cocoa pod husks could be a useful starting material for flame retardants.
ScienceDaily
Mars completes takeover of Hotel Chocolat
Mars has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Hotel Chocolat, a UK premium chocolate brands, after ConfectioneryNews reported in November 2023, that the company had reached agreement with Hotel Chocolat’s Board on the terms of the acquisition, subject to Hotel Chocolat shareholder and regulatory approvals.
confectionerynews.comAnthony Myers
Tax burden on Cocoa Cooperatives affecting production
The chairman of the Ghana Cooperative Council, Dr Bernad Bingab, has stated that the country’s inability to exempt cocoa cooperatives from tax may be contributing to declining annual output.
GhanaWeb
Chocolate & Cocoa Products
USDA Foreign Agricultural Service
International Cocoa Organization - Statistics
The Statistics Section carries out various studies on the cocoa market, some of which can be found on the statistics web page: daily cocoa prices, monthly averages, market reports
International Cocoa Organization
Cocoa PRICE Today | Cocoa Spot Price Chart | Live Price of Cocoa per Ounce | Markets Insider
Cocoa Price: Get all information on the Price of Cocoa including News, Charts and Realtime Quotes.
markets.businessinsider.com
INFORM Consumers Act takes effect on June 27th. Is your business ready?
Certain businesses in the e-commerce space should mark June 27, 2023, on their calendars. That’s the date a new law – the INFORM Consumers Act – takes effect.
Federal Trade CommissionThe Office of Technology
Chocolate Cordillera achieves early wins for its female cocoa farmers
At the end of 2023, Colombian sustainable brand Chocolate Cordillera announced that 106 female cocoa farmers from Urabá Antioquia had completed the first module of its ATENEA sustainability program, giving some the confidence to become fully independent and start their own businesses. Alejandra Sarasty, Chief Global B2B Officer at Colombia’s Compañia Nacional de Chocolates (owners of Chocolate Cordillera), explains the significance of the milestone for the women directly involved and the cocoa sector in general.
confectionerynews.comAnthony Myers

Isochoric Freezing: The Future of Food Preservation?

Episode Hashtags

#News #AMA #AskMeAnything
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat
#PodSaveChocolate #PodSaveChoc #PSC
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife

#TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archive

To read an archived post and find the links to watch archived episodes, click on the bookmark card, below.

#TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archive
News, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon
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