UPDATED: Viral Chocolate Trends & How to Make More Money With Them | #PSC 177

UPDATED: Viral Chocolate Trends & How to Make More Money With Them | #PSC 177

Episode 177 of #PodSaveChocolate looks at ten #trendy chocolate #trends #trending and what chocolate makers and confectioners can do to grow their businesses by riding – smartly – on their coattails.

Where to Watch


Episode 177

This was one of the two episodes that were lost during the recent server outage (see post below).

February 2026 Newsletter – Part 1
There was a major security incident on the VPS node at the datacenter where TheChocolateLife WAS hosted. This resulted in TheChocolateLife being unreachable for over 36 hours. The attack was so severe that none of the data seems to be recoverable.

This post is a placeholder replacement with just the link to the YouTube archive for the purposes of SEO, link preservation, and continuity.


RECAP

The topic of trends is one that I return to fairly often in episodes of PodSaveChocolate, often to point out that “trends” (and more so innovation) can be superficial and shallow, and that what qualifies as “innovative” is often nothing more than a simple line extension.

In this episode, I am going to be more concrete: For each of the ten viral trends mentioned below, I am going to provide concrete definitions for each as well as ideas for what you can do to take advantage of them (and which viral trend you want to avoid), along with an implementation roadmap for 2026 that can help you grow your business, with a focus on makers in the US and EU.

The ten trends that will be covered

  1. Dubai” chocolate
  2. “Experience” bars and confections
  3. High-drama fillings
  4. Plant-based indulgence
  5. Healthier for you
  6. Better for the planet
  7. “3rd-wave” craft chocolate
  8. Sugar-free chocolate
  9. Texture is the new flavor
  10. Alt.“chocolates”

Special Member Offer


I will be publishing an eBook on this topic after the episode. I had originally planned on February 15th as the publication date, but that may be delayed because of the server outage.

The eBook will be available for Free to all ChocolateLife members with annual Team TCL Member premium subscriptions at $42/year on or before February 28th.

I will be publishing one of these eBooks every month, and premium members of TheChocolateLife at the Team TCL Leader level ($150/year) and above will receive them at no additional charge for as long as they keep their memberships active.


Episode Hashtags

#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat #craftchocolate
#PodSaveChoc #PSC
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife


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After a year-long+ experiment, the audio-only versions of PodSaveChocolate episodes have been taken down after an end-of-year review. There were not enough listens to continue uploading episodes and paying for hosting.

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