I Thought I Knew What Good Chocolate Was

I thought, I knew what good chocolate was and I thought Fairtrade meant cocoa farmers were getting a better deal — I even campaigned for it when it first launched in the 1990s. I gave presentations in schools and made myself a little unpopular encouraging people to switch to Fairtrade tea, coffee and chocolate - which, if I’m honest, didn’t always taste that great - but it was all for the greater good.

I discovered Divine, Green & Black’s, and Montezuma’s — drawn in by their revolutionary approach to sourcing and ethics. I even started buying higher cocoa percentages, convinced that quality was somehow linked to the number on the label.

And for years, I thought that was it — that I was doing the right thing, eating “good” chocolate, and supporting a fairer system.

But then I had a bit of an awakening. I found a different type of chocolate.

And honestly? It blew me away.

It wasn’t the ethics or the story that caught my attention at first — it was the taste. The flavours were unlike anything I’d ever had before. I was tasting dark chocolate bars from different origins with no bitterness but different flavour notes in each one - all from nothing but cocoa beans and sugar.

That “wow” moment completely changed how I thought about chocolate. I suddenly realised how little I actually knew about what went into the bar, where it came from, who was involved in making it, and how little Fairtrade actually meant to the farmers it aims to help.

So, I wanted to learn everything I could. I started reading, tasting, asking questions — and eventually I found the IICCT chocolate tasting courses. What began as curiosity turned into a bit of an obsession, but a good one!

Before long, I was teaching others how to taste chocolate — friends and enthusiasts at first, and then professionals, anyone who wanted to really understand chocolate rather than just consume it.

There are still so many people who proudly tell me they always buy Fairtrade because they believe that’s the best they can do — and why wouldn’t they, if they’ve never been introduced to anything better - for flavour and ethics?

What’s more frustrating though, is hearing food professionals praise industrially produced chocolate, with its limited and sometimes even downright unpleasant taste experience — as if it represents the best there is. It’s hard to believe that so many of them have still never discovered the depth, diversity, and taste experience of craft chocolate but this still seems to be the case and as a community we are trying hard to change this.

One of the ways I am helping is by creating a short on-demand course: An Appreciation of Fine Chocolate.

If you are looking for better chocolate, a micro-learning course - with the option to add a tasting box - will give you the knowledge and some simple tools to help you understand what good chocolate really is, not just what the marketing says it is.

This is just an introduction. You can go on to explore and dive deeper with professional courses, or connect with makers and retailers who can guide you further. But by taking the course you’ll know what you are buying, what better chocolate really is and what it can offer when you taste it. It will give you knowledge - and hopefully a curiosity - about the people, places and processes behind it.

That’s the gift I would like to give.

Curious to learn more?

Visit my listings on the Cademy online education site to explore the on-demand courses and discover how to taste, understand, and enjoy chocolate like never before. Link to Cocoa Encounters Cademy Site for Bookings and Vouchers