Unwrapped - A Conversation about Chocolate

We're baaaaaaaack! This episode was recorded in Spring of this year, and finally available for listening. We are honored for our second in the interview series to have Alan McClure of Patric Chocolate join us in conversation.

Listen to the whole conversation in Episode 22, and be sure to visit patricchocolate.com and sign up for their newsletter for more information and progress on some of the topics we discussed back in the Spring.

We interview Dr. Chocolate, Kristy Leissle, scholar of the global cocoa and chocolate industries, lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell where she teaches Global Studies, and author of Cocoa - due out later this month.

Hear Kristy’s story of how she made the switch to study chocolate in an educational setting.

We move into discussing the daily living Kristy saw in the life of cacao farmers in West Africa, some details often not always talked about when discussing the landscape of origins.

Are there resource differences between commodity and specialty segments in cacao? Why is that?

Listen to the whole conversation in Episode 21.

Pre-order Kristy’s book, Cocoa, here: https://www.amazon.com/Cocoa-Resources-Kristy-Leissle/dp/1509513175

Episode 20 - Post NWCF/Seattle Meet Up, Coffee Bars, Vanilla by Unwrapped

The Good Food Awards are over, as is Sunita and Brian’s time together in San Francisco! We’re back, catching up on recent times, talking about a larger platform of Unwrapped that extends beyond the podcast, and updating you all on the new future of The Chocolate Garage. Plus we learn we don't actually like chocolate unless it is inclusion.

Summary

In this episode, Sunita and Brian discuss some of Brian’s recent travelings and move into a topic about Amazon purchasing Whole Foods, and proceed into a discussion about markets and practices and value throughout the process, and can we redesign the system of which things have been done in chocolate. Does what make sense for one make sense for all?

Episode Highlights

• (1:50) Brian talks about his visit to Breville’s Coffee Thinkers Summit in Los Angeles.

• (7:58) What are the barriers to entry in the coffee and chocolate industries and how do they differ?

• (17:43) How will Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods impact the craft chocolate industry?

• (20:30) Why is craft chocolate’s distribution system a failure?

• (26:13) Do consumers really need to be educated about every aspect of their coffee or craft chocolate?

• (30:13) Using the example of avocado farmers, Sunita laments how the Amazon-Whole Foods acquisition shows how much consumers value convenience over quality.

• (34:47) Sunita describes a recent trip to Switzerland, where she met the founders of Choba Choba, a craft chocolate company with a unique business model that tries to increase cacao farmer involvement and transfer value back to cacao’s origins.

• (42:29) Is Apple - which doesn’t apologize about its prices, creates an experience, and makes you want to aspire to be a part of Apple - a model for the values that craft chocolate aspires to?

Mentions

• Brian attended Breville’s Coffee Thinkers Summit (http://www.abandoncoffee.com/home/breville-coffee-thinkers-summit).

• Brian wanted to visit Cincinnati, Ohio, home of Maverick Chocolate (http://maverickchocolate.com/), which just introduced a bar made with Hawaiian cacao.

• While in Los Angeles, Brian stopped at Letterpress Chocolate (http://www.letterpresschocolate.com/).

• Carla Martin (@carladmartin), Founder and Executive Director of the FIne Chocolate and Cacao Institute, and a Lecturer at Harvard University, recently published an article discussing the size of the craft chocolate industry: https://chocolateinstitute.org/blog/sizing-the-craft-chocolate-market/

• Other resources that list craft chocolate makers: Flavors of Cacao (http://flavorsofcacao.com/) and The Ultimate Chocolate Blog (http://ultimatechocolateblog.blogspot.com/)

• Sunita is currently reading the new book by Megan Giller (@megangiller), titled “Bean to Bar Chocolate: America’s Craft Chocolate Revolution” (https://www.amazon.com/Bean-Bar-Chocolate-Revolution-Mind-Blowing/dp/1612128211/)

• Suntia and Brian discuss the new hairstyle sported by Sara (@sara_tea), formerly of Patric Chocolate (http://patric-chocolate.com/) and now the head chef at the Ritz Carlton in St. Louis.

• Sunita was inspired by Choba Choba (https://www.chobachoba.com/), a Swiss chocolate company with a disruptive business model that aims to transfer or keep value at origin.

• Felchlin (http://www.felchlin.com/en) is a Swiss chocolate maker that produces chocolate for Choba Choba, amongst others.

Some bars come marked as Micro-Lot, Nano-Lot, Exclusive... and they all can mean a little something different. From terroir to marketing, we talk about some of the difference between worth, scarcity, and rarity.

Episode 16 - Building Bridges Within the Industry by Unwrapped

Tonight we dug in our respective collections to find some matching bars and had a tasting together! Bars included in the tasting:

Twenty-Four Blackbirds - 75% Cedeño http://www.twentyfourblackbirds.com/products/75-cedeo-small-bar-5-oz

Twenty-Four Blackbirds - 75% Madagascar http://www.twentyfourblackbirds.com/products/75-madagascar-small-bar-5-oz

Sirene - 73% Guatemala https://sirenechocolate.com/product/cacao-verapaz-guatemala-73/

Dandelion - 70% Mantuano Venezuela https://www.dandelionchocolate.com/store/products/mantuano-venezuela-70/#anchor

Smooth Chocolator - 70% Tien Giang Vietnam https://www.smoothchoc.com/products/vietnam70

Letterpress - 70% La Masica Honduras https://letterpress-chocolate.myshopify.com/products/honduras-la-masica-70-dark

Fresh Coast - 70% Belize http://freshcoastchocolate.com/shop/537bybrwtbsjk6iosu6e0w05hmdy2k

Letterpress - 70% Kokoa Kamili Tanzania https://letterpress-chocolate.myshopify.com/products/tanzania-kokoa-kamili-70-dark

Patric - 67% Piura Peru https://chocoweb-1-hrd.appspot.com/ui/select.html

Dive in your stash and taste along with us, or pick some up before listening/re-listening!

In Episode 14 Sunita and Brian try to break down walls by wrestling with some real truths behind many in the world of chocolate when it comes to transparency, openness, and business decision.

We're back! In Episode 13 we jump in to chocolate subscription models, what some of the drawbacks are, the efficiency and cost prohibitive nature of shipping chocolate most of the year, and other complications it comes with finding a way to curate chocolate for people who are new to the world of happy chocolate or wanting to dive deeper.