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 craft chocolate making, after all. Yet one of the largest chocolate manufacturers in the world chose to debut their newest …

Growing up in the US, going to Whole Foods was a special occurrence, reserved for birthdays and whenever I convinced my mom we needed fancy hummus. As I grew older and began doing all my own grocery shopping and cooking (fancy hummus occasionally included), I quickly learned that when it comes to health food stores, …

You probably found this while looking for Hawaiian chocolate shops, and maybe even Honolulu chocolate shops in particular. But did you know that Hawaii is the only state in the US which can actually grow chocolate? The chocolate tree is called Theobroma cacao, and these cacao trees grow quite happily in the tropical clime of …

Have you ever thought about where vanilla comes from? The plant, Vanilla planifola, is native to Mexico, but now grows on a vine in tropical locations around the world. The largest growing regions at the moment are in Madagascar and Indonesia.And like the chocolate tree, vanilla comes from a fermented fruit grown from one of …

Have you ever wanted to visit a chocolate farm, and try a fresh chocolate fruit straight off the tree? Of course you have! For those of you not in-the-know, the chocolate tree is called Theobroma cacao, and it grows within 25 degrees of the equator, putting Hawaii right at the edge of its growing region. …

Paradise. This is most people’s understanding of Hawaii. There are palm trees swaying in the wind, a gentle surf, and pineapples. Sometimes we imagine macadamia nuts and hula dancers, but overall it’s more tropical beach than rain forest. But such images just scratch the surface of Hawaiian potential, and all the many unique things to …

Maddy Smith comes from a family of fabricators. For her entire childhood, her family had this secret chocolate toffee recipe that served as the envy of the neighborhood. For the longest time, this was Maddy’s favorite treat. Years later, her family told her that they’d actually just clipped it out of the local newspaper— that …

Not all chocolate is made in a factory, and not all the Willy Wonkas of the world are old white men. Some of them don’t even make chocolate. So who are these mysterious Charlie Buckets, who barely remember a world before “fine chocolate” and “cacao” were just basic vocabulary? With so many stories out there …

The end of the year is when most of us spend extra time with our families and relax after a long year. We look forward to the events the new year will bring, and enjoy life while it’s slow for a change. In celebration of coming together and looking towards the future, I’ve compiled a …

For some people (like yours truly), finding amazing chocolate in surprising places is reason enough to travel. But traveling for chocolate is not as simple as going to a different country to buy a Cadbury cream egg. In fact, despite the name, chocolate travel doesn’t always involve going to another country at all. Sometimes it just means having …