A postcard from Chocoa
Spencer and Gen have been in Amsterdam this week with many of the world’s chocolate makers, growers and distributors, big and small. Sent from their planes and trains, here are their reflections on what’s being talked about in the world of cocoa and chocolate.
Wow! Chocoa’s trade days are always like the weather in Amsterdam, a great jolt to the system. This year was no exception – a great couple of days that were as bracing as the cold and biting wind. For the farmers and makers of Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and the Pacific Rim it was certainly a bit of shock. But this was more than made up for by an incredibly warm atmosphere, a visceral delight in catching up with many old and new friends and the opportunity to try some AMAZING new bars. Even despite the ongoing concerns about cocoa prices, there was an abundance of optimism, positivity and excitement.
I’ve split this email into six sections starting with pricing (and I’ve written a longer piece on this, coming next week), before moving on to talk about new technologies and machinery, intriguing developments on cocoa farms to improve quality and yields, the continuing rise of new origins (hint: look out for more and more bars from India, the Pacific Rim and some intriguing new African plays), the UK Craft Chocolate Makers fighting back against Brexit, more moves to “tasting is believing” and a final thank you to Jack’s team at Chocoa and all the farmers and makers whose enthusiasm continues to inspire.
Gen’s added some of her reflections and learnings too – we’ve tried to give you a snapshot of our hectic few days.
Pricing
Pricing volatility and pressures continued to cast a massive cloud over both Chocoa and, even more, the World Cocoa Foundation, “Big Chocolate’s” jamboree, that’s held in parallel. Indeed, so serious was the crisis that at the last moment the heads of both Cocobod (Ghana) and CCI (Cote D’Ivoire) failed to get on their planes to Amsterdam as they had to firefight at home. And over the short term, it’s hard to see anything stopping the decline in “grinding volumes”, ie the amount of commodity chocolate being processed by the Big Three chocolate players (note: this is Cargill, Callebaut and Olam/UFI). And if this volume continues to be lower than supply, it’s hard to see how prices won’t continue to yoyo and decline. Next week we’ll explore more why this is happening (and yes, it is partly bar “shrinkflation” and the use of more and more cocoa alternatives so that many snacks can now only call themselves “chocolate flavoured” after falling below the legal minimum cocoa content).
At the same time, there are still attempts to see some positive messages. This year’s harvest does look better. And at least in Ghana some funds have been released to pay farmers – many of whom hadn’t been paid since November (Note; Cote D’Ivoire is still far more problematic). Perhaps even more importantly there is an increasing recognition that promoting speciality beans which are farmed, fermented and dried for flavour rather than volume is essential for West African farmers to escape the monopsony / oligopoly of the Big 3 who play so key a role in dictating commodity cocoa prices. This is also going to change the way cocoa is paid for, (hopefully) finally cracking the soviet-like system where government trading bodies control everything from finances, payments to logistics and protocols. It’s early days but it was great to see so many small farms from the Cote D’Ivoire exhibiting their beans, cocoa liquors and even finished products. Plus hats off to Leslie from three mountains, Ghana who goes from strength to strength and was serving the best brownies and hot chocolate I had at Chocoa. Way to go!
New technologies and machinery
One sign of the health of the Craft Chocolate world is the smiles on the producers of the “kit” used by makers – grinders, conches, packing machines, etc. And this year was literally buzzing. As the saying goes, don’t invest just in gold mines, remember the picks, shovels and railways.
In addition, new technologies are also being applied to help farmers. For example, near infrared sensors are being used to speed up and deepen “cut tests” to check the quality of beans, and potentially even magnesium levels. And inevitably drones, satellites and LIDAR are all being touted as ways to improve traceability and comply with new EUDR regulations (Side note: interesting EUDR seems to be far less of a concern, so well done to all the speciality cocoa farmers for managing this increased complexity!)
Plus one more shout out: it’s great to see a 100+ year old British technology – the CRUMB process that underpins dairy milk – being updated to develop a great new alternative mylk, this time from ‘tiger nuts’. Hats off to Robert.
On the farm
For me one of the highlights of Chocoa was catching up with Joao, Rogerio, Adriana and Cristiano to hear them talk about the work in Brazil on cocoa genetics, preventing diseases, improving fermentation and drying, measuring polyphenols and educating all of us about flavour. Their passion, expertise and enthusiasm really are infectious. Brazil won three gold Cacao of Excellence awards, so they are clearly doing something right!
Similarly, Gustavo and his family at Höganäs continue their experiments on fermentation and now also grinding and concheing to show what can be done with Ecuadorean beans that cover the whole range from heirloom nacional to CCN51. And watch this space for some more experiments with sugars. (Don’t know what I’m talking about? Join me for a masterclass!).
And thank you to Agur from Fjak for letting us try the extraordinary cinnamon fermentation from Kokoa Kamili.
On the Big Cocoa side, things are less positive. The consensus was there are huge problems – but no one seems to be willing to make the radical changes needed to help the farmers and ensure a truly sustainable chocolate sector. For now, craft really is the only option to make sure the farmers are getting a fair wage.
And tastings
And on the subject of fermentation, a shout out to Zoi, Mario and team for their amazing work in Africa (now including Nigeria) and also the Pacific Rim. One of the most wonderful parts of Chocoa is the ability to try so many different cocoas and chocolates, and it’s even better now that there are so many break out tastings in the rooms above the main exhibitor spaces. It’s a treat to be able to try so many beans and bars, and even more so when you can hear from the experts the whats and how they are working their magic. Bravo! And we can’t wait to bring you some of the new bars from e.g., Guadalcanal via the Czech Republic in upcoming subscription boxes. We also saw (and tasted) how some of the regions less know for high quality cacao are starting to see some great improvements on farms where they have worked with experts on post-harvest protocols, which is great news for us – more great quality cacao should mean more great chocolate!
Brexit – the return of the UK to the EU (sort of)
Continuing the theme of tastings, to celebrate the launch of the UK and Ireland Craft Chocolate Association and to wave the flag, a massive hat tip to Isobel (Dormouse), Becca (Chocolarder) and both Shane and Dot (NearyNogs) for holding a tasting to show the “best of British” on Saturday at Chocoa. To quote both General McArthur (butchered later in the movie Independence Day), “We’re coming back”!
A final thank you and a note of optimism
Craft chocolate can be quite a solitary business, especially for makers toiling away to craft great beans but also it can be remote, often lonely work, for many farmers. So Jack and team, a massive thanks for giving makers from Norway, Denmark, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, the UK, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Lithuania, the US, Canada, Madagascar, Uganda, Sweden and more – plus farmers from West Africa, the Pacific Rim, Central and South America, the US (Hawaii!) and Asia to come together and share the fruits of their efforts. We’ve put together a snapshot in a video on Instagram – so if you’ve ever wondered and wanted to see the faces of so many great makers and farmers, take a peek.
Above all, what’s really wonderful is that we really are spoilt for choice; we have so many great origins and makers. And as the ever-wise founder of Kokoa Kamili, Simran Bhindra noted, there are also now so many more people who “get” how fortunate we are to have these inspiring bars. So yes the world of cocoa, especially commodity chocolate, has its issues. But the glass is more than half full!
Thanks as ever for your support. Subscribers have some real treats coming up in the next year, and we’ve even managed to hand carry a small number of very special bars… keep an eye on your inbox, but you’ll have to be quick.
If you want to see what a craft chocolate event is all about (trust me, you do) then we hope you can join us at the next place where the world of Craft Chocolate is getting together, SHOWCOLAT in Bordeaux from the 1-3 May. If there’s one chocolate event you attend this year (apart from our annual Craft Chocolate Fair, returning in October) make it this – unlike Chocoa, it’s designed for the chocolate consumer, with an incredible selection of makers from all over the world.
Thank you Amsterdam, thank you Chocoa – and thank you to everyone who we met, hugged and tasted with this week.
