<![CDATA[The Chocolate Conservatory]]>c0e1db65-34e3-5fde-9ea5-1b3ef049859eMon, 12 Oct 2026 14:00:27 +0000Captivate.fmInstitute of Cacao and Chocolate Researchhttps://artwork.captivate.fm/277b35a1-a2a4-4099-88dc-66c9ae33d244/chocolate-conservatory-new-2.pngThe Chocolate ConservatoryInstitute of Cacao and Chocolate ResearchInstitute of Cacao and Chocolate ResearchWelcome to the Chocolate Conservatory, a podcast brought to you by the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research and Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund. In each episode, scholars Carla D. Martin and Jose Lopez Ganem host a conversation with researchers and industry members engaged in the study of pressing issues related to cacao and chocolate. They use these conversations to bring research to life and put you in the middle of the questions being asked and solutions being proposed and practiced. From the social sciences to hard sciences, arts and humanities to business and finance, they take you directly to the thinkers who are shaping conversations today. Get in touch with us! Send your voice recordings and emails to contact@chocolateinstitute.org with suggestions for topics, guests, or what how you might answer the questions we ask and we might just use it on the show!https://choco-conservatory.captivate.fmfalseepisodicnopodcastGetting to Know the U.S. Specialty Chocolate ConsumerGetting to Know the U.S. Specialty Chocolate ConsumerWhat do we actually know about the US specialty chocolate consumer? Estelle Tracy, Barb Genuario, and Geneviève Leloup, colleagues who work daily at the intersection of chocolate makers and the people who enjoy their bars, join our hosts to dig into the findings of the recently published 2026 US Specialty Chocolate Consumer Survey and Market Study from the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research. Together they test the numbers against their own experience in the field, ask which results ring true and which surprise, and chart the next steps for an ambitious research agenda shaped by what chocolate makers across the country most want to know. Along the way, they celebrate makers and products that have recently delighted them, including Kessho, Castronovo, ChocoMotions, Bonnat, Guittard, Tony’s Chocolonely, Mount Pleasant, Blue Spruce, Maüa, Orinoco , and Standout. Read the full report: https://www.chocolateinstitute.org/u-s-specialty-chocolate-consumer-survey

Our three guests bring the survey's findings face-to-face with the people who live these questions every day.

Barb Genuario is a chocolate writer and educator, co-founder of the DC Chocolate Society, and one of the organizers of the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana (midwestcraftchocolatefestival.com); follow her chocolate adventures at @chocochaser.

Estelle Tracy is a chocolate sommelier and the founder of 37 Chocolates and the Chocolate Educator Workshop, where she hosts tastings designed for connection and forms others to do the same —find her at 37chocolates.com and on Instagram at @37chocolates.

Geneviève Leloup is a chocolate sommelier and the founder of ChocoMotions (chocomotions.com), pioneering confections made with cacao pulp—she's on Instagram at @chocomotions, and she also moonlights as manager at Diamond Custom Machines (DCM), so if you have interesting questions about chocolate-making machinery, she's your person.

]]>What do we actually know about the US specialty chocolate consumer? Estelle Tracy, Barb Genuario, and Geneviève Leloup, colleagues who work daily at the intersection of chocolate makers and the people who enjoy their bars, join our hosts to dig into the findings of the recently published 2026 US Specialty Chocolate Consumer Survey and Market Study from the Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research. Together they test the numbers against their own experience in the field, ask which results ring true and which surprise, and chart the next steps for an ambitious research agenda shaped by what chocolate makers across the country most want to know. Along the way, they celebrate makers and products that have recently delighted them, including Kessho, Castronovo, ChocoMotions, Bonnat, Guittard, Tony’s Chocolonely, Mount Pleasant, Blue Spruce, Maüa, Orinoco , and Standout. Read the full report: https://www.chocolateinstitute.org/u-s-specialty-chocolate-consumer-survey

Our three guests bring the survey's findings face-to-face with the people who live these questions every day.

Barb Genuario is a chocolate writer and educator, co-founder of the DC Chocolate Society, and one of the organizers of the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival in Rushville, Indiana (midwestcraftchocolatefestival.com); follow her chocolate adventures at @chocochaser.

Estelle Tracy is a chocolate sommelier and the founder of 37 Chocolates and the Chocolate Educator Workshop, where she hosts tastings designed for connection and forms others to do the same —find her at 37chocolates.com and on Instagram at @37chocolates.

Geneviève Leloup is a chocolate sommelier and the founder of ChocoMotions (chocomotions.com), pioneering confections made with cacao pulp—she's on Instagram at @chocomotions, and she also moonlights as manager at Diamond Custom Machines (DCM), so if you have interesting questions about chocolate-making machinery, she's your person.

]]>f0620828-1c40-45f8-8471-299e7c2a4981Mon, 12 Oct 2026 10:00:00 -040001:40:08falsefull111111Historical Archeology in the Chocolate BarHistorical Archeology in the Chocolate BarWhat can a potsherd tell us about a chocolate bar? Three leading archaeologists that have focused part of their work in cacao—Patricia L. Crown, PhD, whose discovery of cacao residues in Chaco Canyon pottery rewrote the story of chocolate in North America; Cameron McNeil, PhD, an archaeobotanist whose work traces cacao through ancient Mesoamerica; and Kathryn Sampeck, PhD, a historical archaeologist of chocolate and colonialism—join our hosts to excavate the deep past hiding in every chocolate bar, from ritual drinking vessels to colonial marketplaces.

Canonical books in cacao — dig deeper with our guests' essential works:

Patricia L. Crown (ed.), The House of the Cylinder Jars: Room 28 in Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon (University of New Mexico Press, 2020) -- documenting the re-excavation of the room that held Chaco's famed cylinder jars, in which Crown and Jeffrey Hurst identified the first evidence of chocolate north of the US–Mexico border (https://muse.jhu.edu/book/78107)

Cameron L. McNeil (ed.), Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao (University Press of Florida, 2006) -- bringing together archaeologists, historians, art historians, linguists, botanists, and anthropologists to explore the domestication, preparation, and significance of cacao in ancient and modern communities of the Americas (https://floridapress.org/9780813033822/chocolate-in-mesoamerica/ Project MUSE)

Stacey Schwartzkopf & Kathryn E. Sampeck (eds.), Substance and Seduction: Ingested Commodities in Early Modern Mesoamerica (University of Texas Press, 2017) -- tracing how chocolate, sugar, alcohol, tobacco, and other seductive substances became a nexus of desire for pleasure and profit in Mesoamerica since colonial times (https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477313879/)

]]>What can a potsherd tell us about a chocolate bar? Three leading archaeologists that have focused part of their work in cacao—Patricia L. Crown, PhD, whose discovery of cacao residues in Chaco Canyon pottery rewrote the story of chocolate in North America; Cameron McNeil, PhD, an archaeobotanist whose work traces cacao through ancient Mesoamerica; and Kathryn Sampeck, PhD, a historical archaeologist of chocolate and colonialism—join our hosts to excavate the deep past hiding in every chocolate bar, from ritual drinking vessels to colonial marketplaces.

Canonical books in cacao — dig deeper with our guests' essential works:

Patricia L. Crown (ed.), The House of the Cylinder Jars: Room 28 in Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon (University of New Mexico Press, 2020) -- documenting the re-excavation of the room that held Chaco's famed cylinder jars, in which Crown and Jeffrey Hurst identified the first evidence of chocolate north of the US–Mexico border (https://muse.jhu.edu/book/78107)

Cameron L. McNeil (ed.), Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao (University Press of Florida, 2006) -- bringing together archaeologists, historians, art historians, linguists, botanists, and anthropologists to explore the domestication, preparation, and significance of cacao in ancient and modern communities of the Americas (https://floridapress.org/9780813033822/chocolate-in-mesoamerica/ Project MUSE)

Stacey Schwartzkopf & Kathryn E. Sampeck (eds.), Substance and Seduction: Ingested Commodities in Early Modern Mesoamerica (University of Texas Press, 2017) -- tracing how chocolate, sugar, alcohol, tobacco, and other seductive substances became a nexus of desire for pleasure and profit in Mesoamerica since colonial times (https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477313879/)

]]>4903a44b-6d21-4294-886f-8f1a36a748c2Mon, 21 Sep 2026 09:00:00 -040001:05:22falsefull110101Alternatives and substitutes: a (nascent) industry perspectiveAlternatives and substitutes: a (nascent) industry perspectiveWhat happens to chocolate when it no longer begins with the cacao bean? Ahrum Pak, founder of Win-Win, acompany to bring cocoa-free chocolate to market using fermented ingredients like barley and carob, and Luciano Bueno, founder and CEO of GALY, a Boston-based biotech growing cotton and cacao directly from plant cells, join our hosts to discuss the promise and growing pains of a nascent alternatives industry— Would the industry endorse this work? Would the consumer celebrate, fear, or overlook these solutions? Hear their side of the story here.

Learn more about Win Win: https://www.eatwinwin.com/

Learn more about GALY.CO: https://galy.co/

]]>What happens to chocolate when it no longer begins with the cacao bean? Ahrum Pak, founder of Win-Win, acompany to bring cocoa-free chocolate to market using fermented ingredients like barley and carob, and Luciano Bueno, founder and CEO of GALY, a Boston-based biotech growing cotton and cacao directly from plant cells, join our hosts to discuss the promise and growing pains of a nascent alternatives industry— Would the industry endorse this work? Would the consumer celebrate, fear, or overlook these solutions? Hear their side of the story here.

Learn more about Win Win: https://www.eatwinwin.com/

Learn more about GALY.CO: https://galy.co/

]]>ab09ff22-e668-4fb9-8a90-5110bffc30c8Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:00:00 -040040:40falsefull1991Farmer healthcare in West Africa and beyondFarmer healthcare in West Africa and beyondDr. Shadrack Osei Frimpong, founder of Cocoa 360, and recent Harvard graduate and ICCR Research Fellow Dara Adamolekun join our hosts to discuss pressing sustainability questions related to traceability and transparency and farmer health.

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfrimpong/https://www.linkedin.com/in/daraadamolekun/ and learn more about Cocoa 360 here: https://cocoa360.org/

]]>Dr. Shadrack Osei Frimpong, founder of Cocoa 360, and recent Harvard graduate and ICCR Research Fellow Dara Adamolekun join our hosts to discuss pressing sustainability questions related to traceability and transparency and farmer health.

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfrimpong/https://www.linkedin.com/in/daraadamolekun/ and learn more about Cocoa 360 here: https://cocoa360.org/

]]>b133af99-19ec-43a3-8820-c39a60687b28Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:00 -040001:24:47falsefull1881Bean to confection in MexicoBean to confection in MexicoMost modern chocolate doesn’t end in a solid bar, and it is through the craft of Mexican chocolatier Luis Robledo—using chocolate couverture made from cacao beans produced by Hugo Francisco Chávez and his team at Agrofloresta Mesoamericana—that we can tell a different story. An unusual conversation between a chocolatier and a cacao producer, hailing from the same country, discusses the future of specialty confectionery, the hard work required to get things right throughout the supply chain, and offers an open invitation to explore Mexico sustainably through the senses.

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn: Luis Robledo https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-robledo/

Learn more about Agrofloresta Mesoamericana here https://agroflorestamesoamericana.com/ or taste their work via SleepWlalk Chocolateria in the US (https://www.darkmattercoffee.com/collections/sleep-walk-chocolateria) or Sprügli in the EU and Switzerland (https://www.spruengli.ch/en/shop/chocolate-bars/grand-cru-selva-zoque-chocolate-80.html).

Taste the Mexico 66% by Republica del Cacao by placing an order here https://republicadelcacao.com/en/product/chocolate-negro-mexico-66/ or visiting Tout Chocolat in Mexico City https://www.toutchocolat.mx/ or Mayaguel in Houston, TX https://www.toutchocolat.mx/

]]>Most modern chocolate doesn’t end in a solid bar, and it is through the craft of Mexican chocolatier Luis Robledo—using chocolate couverture made from cacao beans produced by Hugo Francisco Chávez and his team at Agrofloresta Mesoamericana—that we can tell a different story. An unusual conversation between a chocolatier and a cacao producer, hailing from the same country, discusses the future of specialty confectionery, the hard work required to get things right throughout the supply chain, and offers an open invitation to explore Mexico sustainably through the senses.

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn: Luis Robledo https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-robledo/

Learn more about Agrofloresta Mesoamericana here https://agroflorestamesoamericana.com/ or taste their work via SleepWlalk Chocolateria in the US (https://www.darkmattercoffee.com/collections/sleep-walk-chocolateria) or Sprügli in the EU and Switzerland (https://www.spruengli.ch/en/shop/chocolate-bars/grand-cru-selva-zoque-chocolate-80.html).

Taste the Mexico 66% by Republica del Cacao by placing an order here https://republicadelcacao.com/en/product/chocolate-negro-mexico-66/ or visiting Tout Chocolat in Mexico City https://www.toutchocolat.mx/ or Mayaguel in Houston, TX https://www.toutchocolat.mx/

]]>2e6c46a5-6b20-4ff4-80bc-9cda79f1754cFri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -040001:15:59falsefull1771Professional Education with a University AccentProfessional Education with a University AccentDiscussing education for chocolate professionals, Penn State Emeritus Professor Greg Ziegler and CacaoLab Executive Director Claudia Delbaere share lessons learned from teaching generations of students in established institutions, as well as the constraints that the ever-changing supply chain imposes on chocolate manufacturing and the mastery of confectionery formulation.

Learn more about educational opportunities at CacaoLab: https://www.cacaolab.be/

Sign up for the upcoming PSU Short Chocolate Course June 22-26, 2026: https://web.cvent.com/event/d930b4b6-9877-4b62-8bd4-df82b22bd1d9/summary

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn:

Claudia Delbaere https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiadelbaere/

Greg Ziegler https://www.linkedin.com/in/grgryrzglr/

]]>Discussing education for chocolate professionals, Penn State Emeritus Professor Greg Ziegler and CacaoLab Executive Director Claudia Delbaere share lessons learned from teaching generations of students in established institutions, as well as the constraints that the ever-changing supply chain imposes on chocolate manufacturing and the mastery of confectionery formulation.

Learn more about educational opportunities at CacaoLab: https://www.cacaolab.be/

Sign up for the upcoming PSU Short Chocolate Course June 22-26, 2026: https://web.cvent.com/event/d930b4b6-9877-4b62-8bd4-df82b22bd1d9/summary

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn:

Claudia Delbaere https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudiadelbaere/

Greg Ziegler https://www.linkedin.com/in/grgryrzglr/

]]>23d44d5a-533b-453f-8545-939ccd93f870Fri, 05 Jun 2026 10:00:00 -040052:41falsefull1661Labor in sugar caneLabor in sugar caneCornell University Professor Alex M. Nading, a medical anthropologist, joins host Carla Martin to discuss the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes (CKDnt) among Nicaragua's sugarcane plantation workers.

Find Dr. Nading's book via Duke University Press: https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-kidney-and-the-cane ; or in a library near you: https://search.worldcat.org/

]]>Cornell University Professor Alex M. Nading, a medical anthropologist, joins host Carla Martin to discuss the epidemic of chronic kidney disease of nontraditional causes (CKDnt) among Nicaragua's sugarcane plantation workers.

Find Dr. Nading's book via Duke University Press: https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-kidney-and-the-cane ; or in a library near you: https://search.worldcat.org/

]]>b9597d65-d382-4e5d-a2f4-62a679e2930aFri, 15 May 2026 10:00:00 -040001:00:25falsefull1551USA Cacao: A New Origin?USA Cacao: A New Origin?Hawai'i meets Puerto Rico in this discussion of cacao production in the United States! Dr. Viviana Medina of V.M.R. Consulting and Dave Elliott of O'ahu Resource Conservation and Development Council join host Jose Lopez Ganem.

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn: Vivana Medina

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianamedina/

Tickets for the HCCA Conference in Hawaii July 10-12, 2026:

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/hawaiichocolateandcacaoassociation/2172522

Engage Oahu RC&D's programing here:

https://oahurcd.org/

]]>Hawai'i meets Puerto Rico in this discussion of cacao production in the United States! Dr. Viviana Medina of V.M.R. Consulting and Dave Elliott of O'ahu Resource Conservation and Development Council join host Jose Lopez Ganem.

Connect with our guests via LinkedIn: Vivana Medina

https://www.linkedin.com/in/vivianamedina/

Tickets for the HCCA Conference in Hawaii July 10-12, 2026:

https://www.tickettailor.com/events/hawaiichocolateandcacaoassociation/2172522

Engage Oahu RC&D's programing here:

https://oahurcd.org/

]]>704da56c-6d8d-422d-9e8d-349191818476Fri, 08 May 2026 10:00:00 -040001:10:52falsefull1441Numbers, Networks, and Narratives in Specialty CoffeeNumbers, Networks, and Narratives in Specialty CoffeeEmory University Professor Peter Roberts, an economic sociologist, joins Carla to discuss the commodification of specialty coffee producers and the industry's obsession with a narrative of supply and demand.

Connect with Dr. Robert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-roberts-51105374/

Order Dr. Robert's book from Oxford University Press: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/from-supply-and-demand-to-numbers-networks-and-narratives-9780198871460?cc=us&lang=en& ; or find it in a library near you: https://search.worldcat.org/

]]>Emory University Professor Peter Roberts, an economic sociologist, joins Carla to discuss the commodification of specialty coffee producers and the industry's obsession with a narrative of supply and demand.

Connect with Dr. Robert on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter-roberts-51105374/

Order Dr. Robert's book from Oxford University Press: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/from-supply-and-demand-to-numbers-networks-and-narratives-9780198871460?cc=us&lang=en& ; or find it in a library near you: https://search.worldcat.org/

]]>d2f416b8-664a-489d-8e46-ca2dc771f239Fri, 24 Apr 2026 10:00:00 -040048:02truefull1331Research and Innovation in the Chocolate LandsResearch and Innovation in the Chocolate LandsZurich University of Applied Sciences Professor Tilo Hühn describes his lengthy career in food technology innovation and the ways in which Switzerland remains a center of leadership in education and entrepreneurship in chocolate.

Connect with Dr. Huhn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tilohuehnprocessdesign/?locale=en

Learn more about ZHAW's course, "The Science and Art of Chocolate": https://www.zhaw.ch/en/lsfm/continuing-education/detail/course/cas-the-science-and-art-of-chocolate

]]>Zurich University of Applied Sciences Professor Tilo Hühn describes his lengthy career in food technology innovation and the ways in which Switzerland remains a center of leadership in education and entrepreneurship in chocolate.

Connect with Dr. Huhn on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tilohuehnprocessdesign/?locale=en

Learn more about ZHAW's course, "The Science and Art of Chocolate": https://www.zhaw.ch/en/lsfm/continuing-education/detail/course/cas-the-science-and-art-of-chocolate

]]>b5ba6b3e-7808-469e-864c-5de0833dc7f2Fri, 10 Apr 2026 11:00:00 -040001:00:36falsefull1221Cocoa Price Crisis: GhanaCocoa Price Crisis: GhanaHarvard historian Emmanuel Akyeampong and Fuad Mohammed Abubakar of Ghana's Cocoa Marketing Company join Carla to discuss how Ghana's cocoa pricing developed and the challenges and pitfalls of navigating farmgate pricing in a volatile futures market.

Google Drive Folder to Fuad Mohammed Abubakar charts mentioned during the episode: https://tinyurl.com/uzxfetfb

More Resources about our Guests:

Read Professor Akyeampong's book Independent Africa for more on the history of cocoa in Ghana: https://iupress.org/9780253066657/independent-africa/

Find Fuad's articles on Ghana and cocoa pricing here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qxdVjKwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra

Find Fuad's Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuadabubakarmohammed/

]]>Harvard historian Emmanuel Akyeampong and Fuad Mohammed Abubakar of Ghana's Cocoa Marketing Company join Carla to discuss how Ghana's cocoa pricing developed and the challenges and pitfalls of navigating farmgate pricing in a volatile futures market.

Google Drive Folder to Fuad Mohammed Abubakar charts mentioned during the episode: https://tinyurl.com/uzxfetfb

More Resources about our Guests:

Read Professor Akyeampong's book Independent Africa for more on the history of cocoa in Ghana: https://iupress.org/9780253066657/independent-africa/

Find Fuad's articles on Ghana and cocoa pricing here: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=qxdVjKwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=sra

Find Fuad's Linkedin here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fuadabubakarmohammed/

]]>d9abdb5d-67af-4b8e-8e30-da74d5646464Fri, 27 Mar 2026 10:00:00 -040001:00:18falsefull1111Welcome to the Chocolate Conservatory!Welcome to the Chocolate Conservatory!In this trailer, our hosts Carla D. Martin and Jose Lopez Ganem introduce themselves, and the premise of the podcast! Listen in to learn more about why it is important to discuss the pressing issues related to cacao and chocolate.

]]>In this trailer, our hosts Carla D. Martin and Jose Lopez Ganem introduce themselves, and the premise of the podcast! Listen in to learn more about why it is important to discuss the pressing issues related to cacao and chocolate.

]]>0ce9be61-2531-47e1-93c8-5b6704a23ab5Wed, 18 Feb 2026 00:00:00 -040001:34falsetrailer1111