TCL LIVE | Pet Peeves About Cocoa and Chocolate

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Episode Overview

Episode 140 of #TheChocolateLIVE embraces(?) and celebrates(?) the topic of Pet Peeves.

What are the things you don’t like – the things that bother and/or frustrate you (and, of course, I will share some things that bother or frustrate me as well) when it comes to the way cocoa and chocolate are talked about or represented? Also, what are aspects of the industry (e.g., some form of systemic inequity [hint, hint]) that bug the s**t out of you?

The inspiration for this topic was a train of thought that bubbled to the surface during the Halloween episode. (The post is on the home page but I am linking to it here because I can.)

TCL LIVE | Halloween Chocolates: Treat or Trick?
Episode 139 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE goes LIVE at 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on Friday, October 13th.

Unlike other episodes of TheChocolateLifeLIVE, I am not going to be sharing the details of many of my personal pet peeves in advance of the episode. (I will, of course, add those links to this page after the episode is over.)


Some No Spoiler Alert Top Line Pet Peeve Reveals

» Click on the down arrow to expand/close the toggle.

0. Op’s Be Lazy

I spend a lot of time on social media platforms. The forums-forward ones – Reddit and Facebook – drive me the craziest.

00. Taking Trends Too Far

Can there besuch a thing as too much pumpkin spice?

The Friday Checkout: Has Trader Joe’s gone too far with pumpkin spice?
As other fall flavors like apple, maple and caramel take root, grocers may need to recalibrate their seasonal assortments so they don’t overwhelm shoppers.

1. Deliberate Misrepresentation

When a company deliberately makes a statement about a product, a brand, company, or topic it knows is not strictly true.

From Reddit r/chocolate: The Heavy Metals Controversy

Lead + Cadmium + Chocolate Does NOT Have to Equal Fear
The words lead, cadmium, and chocolate in the same sentence are a perfect storm for clickbait. Add kids into the mix and the topic is pretty much guaranteed to lead the 11 o’clock news because the optics are scary.

2. Greenwashing / Wokewashing / Obfuscating

A subset of Deliberate Misrepresentation. In this case, the statements being made have been crafted to shape opinions about the company’s environmental, social, and governance achievements (contrasted with policies).

TCL LIVE | Is #Woke-Washing the New #Greenwashing?
Episode 130 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE is LIVE from 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on Friday, August 25th.
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Tony’s Chocolonely mission - Tony’s Chocolonely
Together we’ll make chocolate 100% exploitation free. Will you join us?

3. Apologists & Apologetics

When one organization rationalizes the behavior of other organizations in support of greenwashing and other objectives.

TheChocolateLifeLIVE – Deconstructing the 2023 Chocolate Scorecard
TheChocolateLifeLIVE resumes from its new home in Central Arizona on Friday, April 21st, from 12:00~13:00 EDT (09:00~10:00 PDT).
Updated: Grading the 2022 Easter Chocolate Scorecard
Part of my responses to “ethical chocolate ‘white’ lists” – what careful observation can tell us.

4. Not Using the Web for What It Can Do

There’s nothing hard about embedding hyperlinks. It’s a native feature of HTML that is supported by many common document types.

TCL LIVE | Will There Be Cocoa Here?
Episode 136 of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE is LIVE from 10:00 AM PDT / 1:00 PM EDT on Tuesday, October 3rd.
Click to download the report.
Tony’s Chocolonely mission - Tony’s Chocolonely
Together we’ll make chocolate 100% exploitation free. Will you join us?

5. Not Citing Sources

A subset of not using the web for what it can do: When reading a news article and sources are mentioned, what’s up with not citing the source?

Small-holder cocoa farmers fear climate change, making a living, new survey highlights
Five million, mainly small-scale farmers produce 75% of the world’s cocoa, and earning a living income has become the key objective for the cocoa sector. Still, despite various initiatives, it hasn’t changed core business practices so far. According to Solidaridad, an international civil society org…
Mondelēz International reveals new Toblerone brand platform, premium offerings
Mondelēz International is introducing a new brand positioning for Toblerone as a premium chocolate, with “Never Square” campaign.
Building a sustainable future for chocolate through empowerment and environmental stewardship
Chocolate companies are taking significant steps to improve cocoa farming conditions and promote sustainability in the industry

6. Stupid AI Tricks

With apologies to David Letterman, many instances of the use of AI are replacements for actually knowing about cocoa and chocolate.

7. Link Farm S(p)(c)ammers + Shein et al

When complete strangers engage with you to scam/spam.

8. My personal Big Pet Peeves Revealed!

1) The internet has fostered a culture where people – especially those who grew up with social media – expect everything to be free to them. As I often say, it’s beneficial to rewrite the old saw, “You get what you pay for” in the negative: “You Don’t Get What You Don’t Pay For.”

2) Where is the innovation in production pathways?

➲ Your Pet Peeves?

As always, I will be taking questions and comments during the livestream. If you want to share your thoughts and/or questions in the comments below before the livestream begins, add them in the comments below.

You can also mention your pet peeves in the comments to the announcement of this episode on Instagram or Twitter aka X (@DiscoverChoc).

Pet Peeve Contributions from Followers on Social Media

From Instagram @jessicachololatejourneys: The White Chocolate Debate
From Reddit r/chocolate: The Heavy Metals Controversy

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