The Chocolate Conservatory

Institute of Cacao and Chocolate Research

Welcome 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!

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9 episodes
Updated July 17

Episodes9

Newest first

July 17 · 1 hr 24 min
Farmer healthcare in West Africa and beyond
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/
June 19 · 1 hr 15 min
Bean to confection in Mexico
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/
June 5 · 52 min
Professional Education with a University Accent
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/
May 15 · 1 hr
Labor in sugar cane
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/
May 8 · 1 hr 10 min
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/
April 24 · 48 min
Numbers, Networks, and Narratives in Specialty Coffee
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/
April 10 · 1 hr
Research and Innovation in the Chocolate Lands
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
March 27 · 1 hr
Cocoa Price Crisis: Ghana
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/
February 18 · 1 min
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.