Northwest Chocolate Festival 2016

What happens on a microbiological level when cacao is fermented, and how is this process related to the human microbiome? What type of chocolate is “healthier” for you, and more importantly - why? Is all chocolate created equally? We’ll cover these questions and many more from a scientific perspective, and demystify the multitude of processes from chocolate goes through from tree to tongue. We’ll touch on how chocolate affects the mind and physiology, and how processing techniques & other ingredients can manipulate — for better or for worse — the diverse biochemical landscape contained inside a single cacao bean.

Fermentation is a key step in the post-harvest process that affects chocolate flavor. Zorzal Cacao is developing micro-lot fermenting trials with chocolate makers to identify the profile that best suits each buyer. The audience will blind taste test 5 Zorzal Cacao fermentation profiles from chocolate made by Dandelion Chocolate and Raaka Chocolate. We’ll discuss the process of fermentation, how direct trade can be used to develop project-based trials, and the fermentation preferences of chocolate maker.

In colonial North America, chocolate interests could be uncovered in the holds of ships, in shops and in homes of our founders.  Merchants dipped deeply into the chocolate culture of their time.  Come learn about the fascinating and little known history of the early American chocolate trade.  

Steve Bergin has been working for years rescuing origin cacao genetics and working with farmers in the Amazon Basin and elsewhere to raise quality and connect beans to the premium market. Expanded production of shade grown cacao helps preserve the threatened rainforest while unique cacao varieties found on the farm and in the wild provide new origins for great chocolate with unique flavors. In 2016, filmmakers Tim Shepard and Amy Burns followed Steve and a group of craft chocolate makers who collaborate with him to locations in the Peruvian Amazon to document the full circle from discovery and rescue of unique genetics to connection to market. They then followed the harvested cacao up to their factories to witness the process of how it becomes chocolate. Presentation of 'Setting the Bar" trailer and Q&A with Steve Bergin, the filmmakers, and chocolate makers from Raaka, Parliament, Xocolatl and French Broad.

Chocolate is one of the world's most ancient, revered and desirable foods. It's also one of the most endangered, over commercialized and adulterated. When we lose that deep connection to the sacred foods of our ancestors, we lose everything.  We are finally reconnecting to chocolate, but are we aware of just how much we stand to (re) gain?

Plunge down the cacao rabbit hole and discover the profound connections to virtually every facet of the human experience embedded within cacao. This talk pulls in all the ways we can—and should—start thinking about chocolate once again:

- chocolate as mythic history
- chocolate as a rite of passage
- chocolate as health, nutrition and medicine
- chocolate as currency and source of wealth
- chocolate as conservationist and peacemaker

The HCP is the first initiative to identify and map the world of high quality, flavor cacao and certify growers of these endangered trees. Global pressures of environmental change, deforestation, disease, and economic pressures from a disease resistance, tasteless cacao variety called CCN-51, that is heavily dependent on manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, all threaten the world’s supply of high quality, flavorful cacao. Recognizing that these endangered cacao trees are the foundation for not only delicious chocolate, but also the livelihood of many farmers and farming communities, we will discuss the plight of the heirloom cacao species and how the work of the HCP is designed to save these flavorful varieties. We will cover what is happening around the world, where we have found heirloom cacao, and how our designation process is making a difference in the lives of heirloom farmers. We will explain to our audience how they can help in the urgent battle to save the world's highest quality most flavorful cacao from extinction.

Karen Bryant went on a two-month road trip around the United States recently to meet with chocolate makers and chocolatiers who are molding the US chocolate experience. Although motivated for her personal education, the road trip and resulting blog was sanctioned by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association. With in depth interviews and photographs, I'll spotlight the people behind some of the best chocolate available to consumers today and focus mainly on those who will be exhibiting here at the 2016 NW Chocolate Festival so that attendees can visit them after the presentation. Attendees will not only gain insights about these fine chocolate professionals, but they will learn about the American craft chocolate movement and the bean-to-bar chocolate making process and gain appreciation for the artistry, passion and technology of taking chocolate and creating delicious and beautiful bonbons and truffles. This is consumer education at the most intimate level.

Evaluating cacao quality has an ancient history. Pre-Columbian writings and depictions indicate uses for different kinds of cacao and the criteria people relied upon for making judgments about quality. Very early colonial texts and illustrations show how assessing cacao quality in Spanish America developed overtones based on region, ethnicity, gender, and race during the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Several examples from Mexico and Central America will provide perspectives on how grading cacao has a fascinating past that is far from straightforward.

One of the main questions I'm asked is 'how do you eat all that chocolate and stay so skinny?' I always reply that I eat artisan chocolate instead of commercial chocolate, and live a healthy lifestyle. Many people have asked for more details, and I'll share them with you! Hear my tips on chocolate-enhanced wellness, presented in a fun and uplifting way, including: the number 1 ingredient to beware of in commercial chocolate, how to decode chocolate bar labels and identify the right kind of artisan chocolate, how to make sure there's no child slave labor in your chocolate as there is in most commercial chocolate bars, how to maximize chocolate's health benefits, how to avoid GMOs and artificial ingredients, what "natural ingredients" are and why they sometimes mean you should back away from the shelf, how to taste and enjoy fine chocolate - which we'll do at the talk! - and more! Audience members will have an opportunity to examine different chocolate bars as we talk through what the ingredients mean. Then we'll do a chocolate tasting of the best picks.

Three years ago I was sitting in the audience at the NW Chocolate Festival wondering how to start a chocolate company. I now own the Maverick Chocolate Company. We have seven employees and produce 5000 bars and 1200 truffles each month. This presentation is how I made Maverick Chocolate come to life.

Carla Martin, PhD, will present her latest research on documenting the opportunities for socio-economic upgrading through the development of the market for fine flavor cacao and chocolate. 

Master Chocolatier, Karen Neugebauer, will offer tips for succeeding in the chocolate industry based on her business know how and years of experience launching award winning branded chocolate products. For aspiring chocolate professionals, hear tips on how to make a profit from making chocolate, setting up your brand image, differentiating your product in the marketplace and additional considerations on product design.