Apparently I look Dutch. This is the number one takeaway from my Amsterdam chocolate adventure, which took me to a few dozen chocolateries across the city. I found that most chocolate shops in Amsterdam are quite small, specializing in only chocolate, with no seating or other goodies to choose from. It’s grab, and then go. …

Unlike in coffee, the chocolate industry has relatively few large conferences open to the public. The industry is still quite secretive, except for one segment— craft. The specialty, or bean to bar chocolate industry is a subset which has built its customer base on the standard of transparency. So it only makes sense that one …

“I look at my sister’s kids… and I think that the chocolate that we’re making today is the kind of nostalgia that I want to give them, because I think it’s a better system for the future.” -Joshua Rosen, Founder of Charm School Chocolate Coconut milk chocolate has become a pretty standard part of any …

Like with most other parts of Asia, chocolate isn’t the first, second, or even fiftieth thing you’d associate with India. But chocolate is universal; it’s spread to markets worldwide, and India is no exception. In fact, with nearly 1.4 billion people, the Indian chocolate market is one of the fastest-growing in the world. Yet the …

“Actually fermenting and drying cacao the way it’s supposed to be takes money and effort. And I think in India today, a farmer would start doing it only when he [sic] sees money on the table.” -Karthikeyan Palaniswami, Co-Founder of Soklet Chocolate Indian food is famous, but Indian desserts, and certainly Indian chocolates, haven’t yet …

Melbourne is known for its exceptional culinary scene, from local wines to modern Asian fusion. But chocolate? Not so much. So I decided to jump into the scene of Melbourne chocolate shops, as well as several chocolateries within walking distance of the Melbourne city line. I found that a lot of shops are closed on …

Ever since the controversial new ruby chocolate was revealed at a Shanghai trade show in September 2017, the ever-wandering eye of the public has been curious about pink chocolate. China’s not exactly a hub for chocolate making (yet). But one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world chose to debut its newest creation there. …

“The Malaysian grower cannot survive at prices that are coming out of Africa. The living standards are different; labor costs are different.” Ning-Geng Ong, Founder of Chocolate Concierge Malaysian origin chocolates are about as common as Cambodian or Hawaiian chocolates. That is, they exist— but you can’t really find them unless you go to the …

Flying into Kuala Lumpur, all you can see from above are oil palm trees, an emerald green that’s quietly choking Malaysian forests. These trees bear the fruits from which palm oil is extracted, and they don’t invite company, a fact which has proved fatal for Malaysia’s biodiversity. The land surrounding Kuala Lumpur used to be …

“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 well-poised to speak on the topic of its future. African farmers grow …