> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://thechocolatelife.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Upcycling in the Cacao Sector: Can/Will it Help Farmers? | #PodSaveChocolate - URL: https://thechocolatelife.com/upcycling-in-the-cacao-sector-can-will-it-help-farmers-podsavechocolate/ - Published: 2024-04-24T17:15:47.000Z - Updated: 2024-04-28T20:01:18.000Z - Description: Episode 38 of #PodSaveChocolate features an exploration of Upcycling in the cocoa sector. Some are suggesting it as a way to help farmers left behind in the current spike in cocoa prices. Is it? - Author: Clay Gordon - Tags: PodSaveChocolate, Live Stream **When and Where to Watch** 🗓️ This episode airs live, starting at 10:00 AM ****PDT**/****MST** (11:00 MDT, 12:00 CDT, 13:00 EDT), on Friday, April 26th, 2024\. [Upcycling in the Cacao Sector: Can/Will it Help Farmers? | #PodSaveChocolateEpisode 38 OverviewA long-time colleague (we first met in the late 1980s during my tech career) knows of my involvement in chocolate and cocoa and routinely…![](https://www.youtube.com/s/desktop/70217e23/img/favicon_144x144.png)YouTube![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HoL5mDPKaYE/maxresdefault_live.jpg)](https://youtube.com/live/HoL5mDPKaYE?feature=share&ref=thechocolatelife.com) Click to watch on YouTube in a new tab or window. Please subscribe (free!) to the [@PodSaveChocolate YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@podsavechocolate/featured?ref=thechocolatelife.com) as well as like this video, comment, and share to help grow the #PSC community. Link to [watch and comment](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/claygordon%5Flavidacocoa-thechocolatelife-cacao-activity-7188944875403337733-2bc-?utm%5Fsource=share&utm%5Fmedium=member%5Fdesktop) on LinkedIn. Link to [watch and comment](https://www.facebook.com/TheChocolateLife/) on TheChocolateLife page on Facebook. Join the conversation LIVE in the chat on YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook! --- ## **Episode 38 Overview** A long-time colleague (we first met in the late 1980s during my tech career) knows of my involvement in chocolate and cocoa and routinely sends me links to stories that show up in his news feed. This past Tuesday just a few hours before the previous episode of PodSaveChocolate he sent me the following link: [How Cacao Can Do So Much More Than Make ChocolateThe cocoa industry produces 700,000 tons of waste, yet much of the discarded organic material can be transformed into valuable byproducts benefiting the land and farmers.![](https://www.wri.org/profiles/contrib/wri_sites/themes/custom/ts_wrin/favicon.ico)World Resources Institute![](https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/styles/1222x722/s3/2024-02/cocoa-bean-harvest-ghana.jpg?VersionId=aSk.sXTdjZEE5NOU8KSuGKT1Pdm1KQHW&h=cd983a9a&itok=zrDVJhSy)](https://www.wri.org/insights/hidden-benefits-cacao-waste?ref=thechocolatelife.com) As Tuesday was the day after Earth Day, it immediately occurred to me to make this the basis for an episode. I also think it’s timely given the two episodes from last on the topic *The High Co$t of Expen$ive Cocoa*. Upcycling in the cocoa sector is not a new idea. One of the foundations of Barry Callebaut’s Whole Fruit initiative is upcycling – I wrote about that in 2019. [A Whole New Category of Chocolate – WholefruitOn September 27, 2019, I attended a launch event in San Francisco where Barry-Callebaut introduced the first fruits (pun intended) of its Wholefruit \[https://www.wholefruitchocolate.com/\] chocolate innovation program to groups of journalists and chefs. I was among similar groups who participated in the 2017 Shanghai reveal of Ruby![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/wordpress/2020/12/barrycallebautwholefruitcover-scaled.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/a-whole-new-category-of-chocolate-wholefruit/) Of course, while Barry Callebaut likes to claim credit for most of the innovations here, it turns out that the ideas and much of the tech predate BC’s work on these new derivatives. [The High Co$t of Expen$ive Cocoa: Part 1 | #PodSaveChocolateEpisode 35 of #PodSaveChocolate is a discussion about the current high cost of cocoa focusing more on why and how, than what.![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2024/04/Ep-035---High-Cost---Featured1920x1080.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/the-high-cost-of-expensive-cocoa-podsavechocolate/) [The High Co$t of Expen$ive Cocoa: Part 2 | #PodSaveChocolateEpisode 36 of #PodSaveChocolate is a continuation of the discussion about the current high cost of cocoa focusing more on why and how, than what begun in Episode 35.![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2024/04/Ep-036---Impact---Featured1920x1080.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/the-high-co-t-of-expen-ive-cocoa-part-2-podsavechocolate/) I remember seeing the use of cacao flour made from pods at the Salon del Cacao y Chocolate in Lima in 2014\. In 2013 while in Lima during the Salon and in Tarapoto on *La Ruta del Cacao* I tasted many forms of *jalea* (jelly) and *mermelada* (marmalade) made with cacao juice and chopped cacao placenta. > Many of you may know of my involvement in bringing *Solbeso,* an 80-proof distilled spirit made from cacao juice to market – my work on that project began in 2011. More recently we’ve seen huge interest in capturing and bottling the juice as a beverage. [Home - Pacha de CacaoWant to try fresh cacao juice? Can’t wait to have a bottle of Pacha in your hands? You can make your order and have it delivered to your doorstep anywhere in Europe. Are you ready to taste something completely new & delicious? Let us know for whom you are ordering: About Pacha de Cacao is \[…\]![](https://pachadecacao.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-favicon-270x270.png)Pacha de Cacao![](https://pachadecacao.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/pacha-de-cacao-packshot.webp)](https://pachadecacao.com/?ref=thechocolatelife.com) This is one juice effort, founded by Marika van Santvoort in the Netherlands. I first met Marika in Amsterdam back in 2015. ***Upcycling is not interesting because it is new***. What is interesting (to me) is that a think-tank like WRI is addressing the topic of upcycling. From the article: > Despite the many benefits of reusing cocoa byproducts, there are significant barriers to its widespread adoption and scalability within the cocoa industry. > > One major challenge is the lack of infrastructure and access to technology for collecting and processing cocoa waste. This episode of PodSaveChocolate will take a close look at upcycling in the cacao sector, exploring the whys and hows, barriers to success, and to ask the question, “Is upcycling a way for a large proportion of cocoa farmers to capture more added value?” --- ### **Credit Notes** The Firefly prompt used to generate the background for the hero image was “upcycling cacao pods on the farm” and the style prompt was “photo.” Below are three other Firefly renderings generated from other prompts. ![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2024/04/Firefly-upcycling-cacao-pods-on-the-farm-56348-Large.jpeg) ![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2024/04/Firefly-upcycling-cacao-pods-on-the-farm-with-equipment-for-extracting-juice-steampunk-wide-angle56348-Large.jpeg) ![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2024/04/Firefly-upcycling-cacao-pods-on-the-farm-with-equipment-for-extracting-juice-antique-color-explosion-wideangle-56348-Large.jpeg) \[L\] Prompt: “upcycling cacao pods on the farm.” Style prompts: photo, dramatic light & wide angle. \[C\] Prompt: “upcycling cacao pods on the farm with equipment to extract juice.” Style prompts: photo & steampunk. \[R\] Prompt: “upcycling cacao pods on the farm with equipment to extract juice.” Style prompts: photo, antique & color explosion. --- ### **Episo**de Hashtags a**nd Related Accounts to Follow** #Upcycling #WorldResourcesInsitute #cocoa #cacao #cacau #chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate #PodSaveChocolate #PodSaveChoc #LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife --- ### **Future Episodes** 🗓️ The topic/guest for the Tuesday, April 30th episode of PodSaveChocolate will be an interview/tasting with Mark Burrows of Pollinator Chocolate, Carbondale, CO. 🗓️ The topic/guest for the Friday, May 3rd episode of PodSaveChocolate will be an interview/tasting with Sally McFadyen of Argencove Chocolate, Nicaragua. 🗓️ The topic/guest for the Tuesday, May 7th episode of PodSaveChocolate will be an interview/tasting with representatives from Mashpi Chocolate, Ecuador. 🗓️ The guest for the Tuesday, May 14th episode of PodSaveChocolate will be Pashmina de Shon, co-founder of Bar and Cocoa (Denver). The main topics for discussion are the challenges of being a specialty chocolate reseller. --- ### **#PodSaveChocolate and #TheChocolateLifeLIVE Archives** **To read an archived post** and find the links to watch archived episodes, click on one of the bookmark cards, below. [Pod Save Chocolate Calendar and ArchiveNews, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. #PodSaveChocolate!![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2023/11/TagImageBanner-PodSaveChocTagFinal_1920x1080-5.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/pod-save-chocolate-calendar-and-archive/) [#TheChocolateLifeLIVE ArchiveNews, views, and conversations on topics in cocoa and chocolate streamed live to YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook.![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/size/w256h256/2020/12/JR_Pods60x60FavIconCutoutButtons.png)The Chocolate LifeClay Gordon![](https://thechocolatelife.com/content/images/2023/03/solen-feyissa-WG7v_wYZW4Q-unsplash-CalendarFeatured1920x1080.jpg)](https://thechocolatelife.com/thechocolatelife-live-calendar/) ## Not a Member? 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