In this week's bonus episode, Sunita de Tourreil talks about the late Mott Green and the impact his company has had upon growing the chocolate industry in cacao-growing countries. A bit later on she touches on the inspiration and work put into her beautiful chocolate documentaries, now covering Nicaragua, Cuba, and Hawai'i. Sunita is a long-time chocolate educator, CEO & founder of the Chocolate Garage, and well as the former judge for a number of chocolate competitions.

Connect With Sunita de Tourreil

On Instagram: @chocolategarage (https://www.instagram.com/chocolategarage/)

Through her documentaries: On YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQZee08csfKvXduoQOjVErA/videos)

Connect With Chocolate On The Road

On Instagram: @chocolateontheroad (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

On Facebook: @chocolateontheroad (https://www.facebook.com/chocolateontheroad/)

Show music is Roadtrip by Phil Reavis, and our transition music is We’re Gonna Be Around by People Like Us & Sweet Dreams by Lobo Loco.

At it’s core, social media has broken down the barriers to communication on a global scale, and allowed people to carve out their own place in a massive industry that’s been stagnant for far too long. Traditional advertising channels of television, radio, and print are largely being replaced by platforms people can use on-the-go, allowing small (chocolate) businesses to (potentially) thrive.

But what have consumers and retailers been seeing on their side?

In this episode, we talk to 3 chocolate industry folks about the most impactful changes they’ve seen social media make in craft chocolate. After a decade of shaping the industry, we can finally look back at how the importance of Twitter in 2009 became the urgency of Instagram in 2019.

To read the article that inspired this episode, click here.

Show notes: https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-social-media/ (https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-social-media/)

Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

Pam Williams is somewhat of a legend in the world of chocolate. She’s been in the industry for over thirty years, and she’s been teaching the business of chocolate at Ecole Chocolat (https://www.ecolechocolat.com/) since 2003. The school offers classes in chocolate making from bean to bar, chocolatiering, and all the other courses you’d need to start up your own chocolate business. It’s largely responsible for spreading the craft chocolate movement (https://damecacao.com/craft-chocolate-continue-to-grow/) from North America to Europe and beyond, because this school is entirely online.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Pam for the most recent episode of this chocolate podcast—which you can listen to here (https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-the-internet/)— but her story is so interesting that I knew I had to share more of it. So here’s a blend of Pam’s life experiences, perspectives, and the little stories that have made her the person she is today. I hope you enjoy listening to our conversation as much as I enjoyed having it. Note that the topic of the internet plays heavily in my questions thanks to the podcast episode I was interviewing her for.

Show notes: https://damecacao.com/interview-pam-williams/ (https://damecacao.com/interview-pam-williams/)

Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

In this week's bonus episode, author & long-time chocolate consultant Clay Gordon warns us of the potential dangers of the internet's development of craft chocolate, and a way to forge ahead without falling into those traps.

Connect With Clay Gordon

On Instagram: @discoverchoc (https://www.instagram.com/discoverchoc/)

Connect With Chocolate On The Road

On Instagram: @chocolateontheroad (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

On Facebook: @chocolateontheroad (https://www.facebook.com/chocolateontheroad/)

Show music is Roadtrip by Phil Reavis, and our transition music is We’re Gonna Be Around by People Like Us & Sweet Dreams by Lobo Loco.

Craft chocolate’s growth, just like that of Milliennials’ (https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-millennials-in-chocolate/), has paralleled the rise of the internet. On the one hand were future chocolate makers, slowly discovering this global world of cacao growing & sourcing, chocolate tasting & making, and small business-building. While behind the scenes, countless people were working to help them on their path.

Somebody had to connect them to their cacao & teach them the basics of chocolate making. Somebody had to give them the tools to start their own businesses. And yet another somebody had to connect them, helping them solve the everyday problems they were each facing.

In this episode we’ll meet three of the somebodies who created much of the foundation of the modern craft chocolate movement. They’ve made it their business, literally, to build up small chocolate businesses, one bean— or bonbon— at a time. But how and why did they decide to build up a new industry using this new technology?

Show notes: https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-the-internet/ (https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-the-internet/)

Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

In this week's bonus episode, Brazilian chocolate maker Luisa Abram gives us a little of her background, as well as some insight into how Brazil's youth is beginning to re-engage in & find value in their local foods.

Connect With Luisa Abram

On Instagram: @luisaambram (https://www.instagram.com/luisaabram/)

Connect With Chocolate On The Road

On Instagram: @chocolateontheroad (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

On Facebook: @chocolateontheroad (https://www.facebook.com/chocolateontheroad/)

Show music is Roadtrip by Phil Reavis, and our transition music is We’re Gonna Be Around by People Like Us.

This week we dive into topic of Millennials, exploring whether they exist, and if they do, what impact they've had upon the specialty chocolate industry. What do the themes of globalism and health have to do with a food as seemingly simple and commonplace as a chocolate bar? In this episode you've hear from 4 young people, each one telling a different part of the story of how Millennials became such an integral part of specialty chocolate industry— whether they exist or not.

Read the article that inspired this episode here. (https://damecacao.com/millennials-in-chocolate-around-the-world/)

Show notes: https://damecacao.com/millennials-in-chocolate-around-the-world/ (https://damecacao.com/millennials-in-chocolate-around-the-world/)

Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)

Get to know 3 very different chocolate industry professionals in this introductory episode of Chocolate On The Road, a documentary-style podcast exploring hot topics & hot destinations for chocolate lovers around the world.

Through bean to bar chocolate discoveries and fine cacao realizations, come with me and our guests to southern Africa and Tanzania, Venezuela and England, and France and the US. I promise that this chocolate podcast will take you on the road trip of a lifetime!

Show notes: https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-the-origin-story/ (https://damecacao.com/chocolate-on-the-road-the-origin-story/)

Show Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/ (https://www.instagram.com/chocolateontheroad/)