Episode 11 Overview

The first of each year is a time when many of us take a look back at 2023 and make resolutions about what we want to change, achieve, or do better in the coming year.

Often, those resolutions are health-related, and eating better and/or losing weight are very common promises we make to ourselves. Sometimes, these resolutions involve abstaining from consuming chocolate for one reason or another.

In the past few years there have been scares around heavy metals contamination that today’s guest, Keith Ayoob, and I have covered extensively. Keith, who is Professor Emeritus in Pediatric Nutrition at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NYC, is a contributor to TheChocolateLife.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 10 Overview

Looking Back, Looking Forward is a topic I have explored – on a semi-regular basis – over the past five years.

2023 has been an interesting year for me, professionally and personally, and 2024 looks like it will start with a bang and then pick up steam from there.

In this episode of #PodSaveChocolate, I will share accomplishments and disappointments for 2023 and what I am looking forward to working on in 2024.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 9 Overview

The European Deforestation Regulation (“EUDR”) is set to come into force over the course of 2024 and will have an impact on every cocoa bean, every gram of derivative product, and every piece of finished chocolate that enters the EU, no matter where the cocoa was grown or the derivative or finished product was produced.

Despite the widespread impact and the imminent requirement to be compliant with the regulations, there is still a universe of unknowns when it comes to many specifics of implementation.

In this episode of #PodSaveChocolate, my guest Antonie Fountain of VOICE Network and I will be discussing some of the most pressing issues that farmers, governments, brokers/traders, processors, and chocolate makers need to understand about the knowns, the known unknowns, and the unknown unknowns of the EUDR and what it means for your business.

The penalties for being out of compliance are stiff: 4% of turnover that can be attributed to the sales of the affected commodities. For chocolate makers, this means not just to the cocoa but also to the paper products used in packaging, to any CBEs/CBRs derived from palm oil, and to any coffee that might be in the recipe.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 8 Overview

Terry Collingsworth of International Rights Advocates has been a guest on several episodes of TheChocolateLife on Clubhouse and TheChocolateLifeLIVE.

In those episodes, we’ve discussed the work of International Rights Advocates in the legal cases here in the US whose purpose is to hold “Big Chocolate” accountable for ongoing labor abuses in their cocoa supply chains in West Africa.

Recently, CBS News aired a piece in which it showed that several Big Chocolate companies (Mars, Cargill, and Mondelēz) could not credibly say they had no knowledge of labor conditions on the farms they source from, and thus no responsibility, for the worst forms of illegal child labor, a position defended in other legal actions IRAdvocates has filed. Shortly after the above piece aired, IRAdvocates filed a new lawsuit in the DC District Court.

In this episode of #PodSaveChocolate Terry and I will discuss this case, what makes this case different from the other cases IRAdvocates has filed, and we’ll get a status update on those cases, too.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 7 Overview

Followers of #TheChocolateLifeLIVE may remember that I visited Goodnow Farms in the days before I headed out on my Cross Country Craft Chocolate Odyssey.

In this episode, we’ll be focusing on a recent (and almost immediately sold-out) bar, Yasica Especial (MSRP $35/70gr). There are some wonderful stories behind the beans and how they made their way from Nicaragua (I spent quite a bit of time in this area of Nicaragua from 2014 to 2017) to Massachusetts to be turned into chocolate.

All that and more, including a live unboxing and a live tasting.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 6 Overview

As you might imagine, I get contacted regularly by chocolate makers, distributors, and their PR companies about tasting and reviewing their products. I created a #Reviews tag where all of the reviews I have done can be easily accessed.

In this episode, I will be talking about two brands I was sent samples of that I have not made the time to write individual reviews. (I have consumed every bite of both of them but I have my notes and I will be referring to them as I share my impressions of them.) Both of these companies are in the US.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 5 Overview

Every month I host an episode in which I talk about stories – newsworthy and otherwise – that have come to my attention over the past month. This News RoundUp is that episode.

And I will be taking questions, AMA style, from participants during the livestream.

Visit this post on TheChocolateLife to see what topics are covered.

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Episode 4 Overview

For well over a year I have been following not just news of alternative ingredients – sweeteners and fats – used in chocolate, but also cocoa-free alternatives to chocolate.

alt.chocolates, as I think of them, use a variety of techniques, including precision fermentation and cell culturing, that attempt to mimic the aroma, taste, texture, and technical characteristics of real chocolate made from cocoa beans. One idea is that by not using cocoa beans to make chocolate there is a reduction in several different measures of environmental impact as well as sidestepping issues of illegal labor in the cocoa«-»chocolate supply chain.

Question for the Episode

Are alt.chocolates the way to Pod Save Chocolate? A way? What about WNWN’s products? How do they stack up?

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode 3 Overview

I have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to the worlds of cocoa and chocolate. Pursuing my ChocolateLife has given me opportunities to travel around the world, meet amazing people, have incredible and make amazing friends. In this episode of PodSaveChocolate, I will be sharing some of my ChocolateLife journey.

The featured photo above shows one such experience, which took place in Paris (Neuilly, specifically) in 2010 during a two-day Discover Chocolate in Paris tour I organized during the Salon du Chocolat. I will share more about what went on that day during the episode as well as chocolates, people, places, and other experiences that I am thankful for.

I will also be tasting some of the chocolates I purchased (and was gifted) during my recent trip to London for International Cocoa Diplomacy’s International Cocoa and Chocolate Forum.

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

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Episode Overview

When it comes to the mission of Pod Save Chocolate, discussions of market forces and factors that have the potential to disrupt the chocolate supply chain from the farm to the factory to the consumer make their way to the top of the list.

Discussions of some of those market forces and factors are the subjects of today’s episode. Today’s topics have been grouped into three buckets – those that will be disruptive, those that might be disruptive, and those that will likely not be disruptive.

As always, we’ll be fielding comments and questions during the livestream and in the comments before and after the episode airs. Have something you want to contribute? Let us know!

Visit the post on TheChocolateLife for more information and links.

Find out more at https://podsavechocolate.pinecast.co