"The reality here [in Ghana] is that cocoa is kind of it... Cocoa is part of the national identity here."-Dr. Kristy Leissle, Cocoa Researcher & Scholar With 15 years of cocoa research in West Africa under her belt, Dr. Kristy Leissle is …
Podcast Show Notes
Interview: Jan Schubert, Conservation Leader at Original Beans Chocolate
"I would say... for the farmers we're working with, [for] eighty percent of them cacao is the most important income solution, but for zero percent it's their only income."-Jan Schubert, Conservation Leader at Original Beans Chocolate Jan Schubert …
Interview: Samuel Maruta, Co-Founder of Marou Chocolate
"Just because nobody's told you you could, doesn't mean you can't."-Samuel Maruta, Co-Founder of Marou Chocolate Samuel Maruta is the co-founder of Marou Chocolate, a craft chocolate company based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Since its founding …
Interview: Sunita De Tourreil, Founder of The Chocolate Garage
"How do we keep bringing change to this supply chain, and keep introducing new ways of doing things, so we don't fall into the trap of 'business as usual'?"-Sunita De Tourreil, Founder of The Chocolate Garage Sunita De Tourreil has spend the last …
Interview: Matt Caputo, CEO of Caputo’s Market & Deli
"I do wish more people had an appreciation for what an incredible labor of love goes into craft chocolate, and how this is not an industry for people who want to get rich."-Matt Caputo, CEO of Caputo's Market & Deli Matt Caputo is a well-known …
Chocolate On The Road: Is Chocolate Going Extinct?
"Every single craft chocolate maker in the United States could say 'we want to buy cocoa from Ghana and [the] Ivory Coast,' and it would be like the tiniest droplet in the humongous ocean that is cocoa in West Africa."-Dr. Kristy Leissle, Author of …
Chocolate On The Road: Myanmar
"The first reaction of Myanmar people— now it's changing, very slowly, but it's changing— their first reaction [to his chocolate] is 'it's made in Myanmar; it's not good.'"-Jean-Yves Branchard, Founder of Ananda Chocolate Myanmar is much more …
Chocolate On The Road: Thailand
"Squirrels will eat all your cacao pods and leave [them] like a bat, you know, hanging on the cacao trees. And the uncle will say 'Oh, I cannot fight with it anymore.'"-Paniti Junhasavasdikul, Co-founder of Kad Kokoa Chocolate Thailand is the …
Chocolate On The Road: Craft Sugar Free Chocolate
"Sugar is demonized."-Ayano Kimura, Co-founder of Böhnchen & Co. Chocolate When I was a kid, discovering my Mom's chocolate stash in the pantry was always exciting— until I realized it was made up of only sugar-free chocolate. For as long as I …
Interview: David Castellan, Co-founder of SoMA Chocolate
"When we first started trying to purchase beans, when we called up the bean broker... we said, you know, we just want to buy one bag, two bags [of cocoa beans], and they kinda laughed and said 'no one ever orders two bags of cocoa... I only have 11 …
