
Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute: Understand the Cacao-Chocolate Supply Chain - dpflan
https://chocolateinstitute.org/
======
dpflan
I found this while mucking around in the Mast Brothers chocolate controversy
where the origin of chocolate and chocolate production methodologies are under
scrutiny. From the Quartz article on the Mast Brothers [1]:

'Transparency is important to all elements of the food movement, but it is
particularly relevant in the realm of chocolate, Carla Martin, lecturer on
African and African American Studies at Harvard University, and founder and
executive director of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, told Quartz. She
cites examples like Cadbury’s ignoring the use of slave labor in its supply
chain in the early 1900s, and early industrial chocolate makers who were found
to be bulking up chocolate with corn sugar. “It’s something that people
involved in the craft chocolate movement are very concerned with,” she says.
“There are ideals about this kind of openness in one’s business practices and
it comes from very real concerns about fraudulent practices in the food
industry.” Similar concerns continue to the present day: Most of the world’s
chocolate comes from West Africa, where practices like child labor and
rainforest clearing are rampant.'

In addition to providing transparency, the institute offers services for
training how to grade cacao and soon a database for "database for external
evaluation, cut tests, and organoleptic evaluation of cacao."

_

( _For those interested in the Mast Brothers issue_ : There is also a 4 part
series exploring the Mast Brothers and their chocolate by a Dallas based food
blogger [2.]. And NPR article to make you feel better about yourself if you're
anxious about this 'controversy' and your recent chocolate purchases [3.].)

_

 _References_ :

1\. Quartz Article: [http://qz.com/571151/the-mast-brothers-fooled-the-world-
into...](http://qz.com/571151/the-mast-brothers-fooled-the-world-into-buying-
crappy-hipster-chocolate-for-10-a-bar/)

2\. Dallas Food Blog Exposé on the "Credibility" of Mast Brothers (4 part
series): [http://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-
behind...](http://dallasfood.org/2015/12/mast-brothers-what-lies-behind-the-
beards-part-1-tastetexture/)

3\. NPR Article:
[http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/23/460819387/are...](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/12/23/460819387/are-
you-a-sucker-if-you-like-mast-brothers-chocolate)

