Big Chocolate Disappoints? Again? | #PodSaveChocolate
Episode 28 of #PodSaveChocolate features an op-ed on a potential impact of Big Chocolate’s widespread adoption of alternative “chocolates.” And why I think this is a bad thing – and you should, too,
When and Where to Watch
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Link to watch and comment on LinkedIn.
Link to watch and comment on TheChocolateLife page on Facebook.
Episode 28 Overview
BREAKING NEWS!
Anthony Myers
Will this announcement reduce some pricing pressure on cocoa in the short term? Related EUDR news.
Augustus Bambridge-Sutton
Related EUDR news.
And Now, Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program ...
I have been writing about alternative “chocolates” for nearly three years now in my role as the Technical Editor for International Confectionery Magazine. I have covered Planet A Food (formerly Qoa), California Cultured, and WNWN Food Labs during this time, in the magazine and here on TheChocolateLife.
Clay Gordon
The Post & Comment That Sparked This Episode
PeakBridge
I have been skeptical of alt.chocolate’s ability to deliver a product that tastes like chocolate that chocolate lovers will like. However, when we are talking about a replacement for the thin layer of chocolate (or often something chocolate adjacent) on the outside of a candy bar, I can see how a confectionery manufacturer would be interested in a product that is less expensive and that is free from the controversies surrounding cocoa – from the recent increases in price to carbon footprint to its role in deforestation and climate change to its struggles with eliminating illegal labor on farms in West Africa.
One thing we’re seeing with the rapid increase in the market price for cocoa over the past year is that Big Chocolate is not only looking at alt.chocolates more seriously and some of them are investing in makers in this sector. Some of those makers are listed below. [To be perfectly clear, I am not claiming to know that any particular Big Chocolate company is investing in any one or more of the makers listed below.]
This image posted by WNWN/WinWin on LinkedIn promotes the idea that chocolate is f*cked. Is this really a helpful message in any way?
My article in Int’l Confectionery. (Published Sept 21.)
This episode will explore the hidden dangers in this rush to develop and bring to market alt.chocolates at industrial scale.
Who will benefit – and who will get f*cked in this rush?
One clue as to who will get f*cked.
Contributors to Wikimedia projects
Big Chocolate has failed to meet its voluntary commitments under Harkin-Engel after more than 20 years.
Episode Hashtags and Related Accounts to Follow
#AltChocolate #AlternativeChocolate #ChocolateAdjacent
#cocoa #cacao #cacau
#chocolate #chocolat
#PodSaveChocolate #PodSaveChoc
#LaVidaCocoa #TheChocolateLife
Next Episode
The topic and guest for the Friday, March 22nd episode are still TBD when this post was published.
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Clay Gordon
Clay Gordon