Report from Chocoa: What you need to know

Gen and I are just back from Chocoa, a week long chocolate conference in Amsterdam where chocolate makers, farmers, machinery makers, NGOs, Trade Bodies of all sizes – from craft to “Big Chocolate” – all meet.

It’s a full on experience – ranging from inspirational to daunting, excitement to trepidation, optimism and amazement to pessimism and fear.

We’ve come back with a list of great new makers and new bars, plus we also managed to pick up a few bars that were hand carried for us – and in particular, a huge thanks to Kathy from Mirzam (see here for her chocolate covered dates, infused bars and Mirzam’s pistachio ‘Falooda’ Dubai-style bar).

So here’s our report from the world of chocolate, aiming to give you a flavour of what went on so that next year you too consider a spring break in Amsterdam (there is a great public chocolate fair at the weekend). And, if you are planning your summer holidays, we would also encourage you to consider going to the craft chocolate festival Eurobean, being held in Chemnitz, Germany by Patrick, Peggy and the Choco Del Sol team.

It was INSPIRING to see so many old and new friends – and to see their delight at catching up with one another. We don’t get to see great makers like Kathy from Mirzam (Dubai), Vincent from Marou (Vietnam), Bryan from Fruition (New York), Greg from Dandelion (San Francisco), Ryan from Parliament (Los Angeles), Ebru from Butterfly (Turkey), Rogerio and Tuta from Mestico and Baini (both from Brazil) – and it was really wonderful to see how happy they were to catch up with their European friends from Norway (Agur/Fjak), Holland (Enver and Rodney from Heinde & Varr, plus the Chocolate Makers team), Denmark (Mikkel Friis Holm) and a great contingent from the UK. Plus it’s a rare chance to catch up with some key growers and farmers, including Simran from Kokoa Kamilil (Tanzania), Jeff from Cocoa Latitudes (Uganda) and Leslie from Three Mountains (Ghana). The Craft Chocolate world is wonderfully collegiate and it’s inspiring to see how happy everyone is to see one another. Craft chocolate makers spend a lot of time fairly isolated in their factories – roasting beans, tempering chocolate, fixing machines and packing their bars. It’s wonderful to see them all rejoicing in one another’s triumphs. They are a great group to hang out with!

Plus we were super encouraged, and EXCITED, to meet with lots of new makers that we look forward to working with – everywhere from Peru to Costa Rica. And it’s exciting to see so many new makers in France, Italy, Spain and (even) Belgium. Plus, wonder of wonders, we met up with some wonderful new makers from Ukraine and Poland/Belarus. We have some great treats in store for you – including a Ukrainian tasting coming up soon.

At the same time, there was a lot of TREPIDATION. We’ve written before about the skyrocketing prices of cocoa beans and cocoa butter. Even though craft chocolate has always paid far more to farmers (paying $7-15k per tonne rather than the commodity prices of $2-2.5k), Craft Cocoa prices have also been rising, by 50-150%. Arguably an even more pressing problem is cocoa supplies; many makers are worried about bean supply and, in particular cocoa butter availability (and prices). In private and in public, makers are really worried when they can expect their next container of beans, and how they can source more cocoa butter.

A visit to one of Amsterdam’s cocoa warehouses provided a DAUNTING reminder of the difference between “craft” and “mass/big” chocolate. Amsterdam prides itself on being biggest cocoa port in the world; the Netherlands imports about 895,000 MT of cocoa beans annually (about 24% of the world’s production), with Amsterdam storing about 600,000 MT of cocoa. Seeing this up close is OVERWHELMING – see a great picture of Gen sitting on a relatively small mountain of beans (thanks to Albert of Crafting Markets for arranging this – and don’t worry, these aren’t the craft chocolate beans! They were all beautifully packaged, labelled and cared for). As well as being impressed by the scale of these warehouses – think of multiple football stadium stacked together, they were also “eerily empty” … a reminder of the shortages of world cocoa.

Ending on a positive note, new origins are appearing with awe inspiring stories. For me, one of the most UPLIFTING sessions was one run by Jodie Stewart of Pacific Trade Invest who brought over a contingent of chocolate farmers and makers from the Pacific Rim (Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea etc.). Hearing from the farmers themselves about the care with which they grow their cocoa, and the difference it can make in their lives, was a privilege. We’re planning a bunch of tastings to explore some of these bars, and some other bars. For now, here are a couple of bars from Solomons Gold, Firetree and Chocolarder from this region.

So a massive thanks, and congrats, to Chocoa. And hopefully we’ve whetted your appetite for next year – and also for Eurobean later in the year (and yes, we will be doing another London chocolate fair in the autumn too!)

Source – daarnhouwer