by Ronan Weggelaar | Aug 15, 2023 | Cocoa Stories
Our second part of our trip to Madagascar took us to Ambanja and the Sambirano Valley in the northwest of the world’s oldest island. The Conseil National Cacao of Madagascar – CNC –kindly organized a day visit for the ICCO Ad Hoc Panel members who decided to stay on...
by Ronan Weggelaar | Jul 6, 2023 | Cocoa Stories
We all remember the first time we became aware of the wonderful complexity of fine flavour cacao. Mine came in the shape of a piece of “Sambirano Gold” chocolate from Willie’s Cacao. Citrus acidity, cranberry flavour notes. I was blown away by this first conscious...
by Ronan Weggelaar | Jun 2, 2023 | Cocoa Stories
Perhaps you might have seen countries proudly announcing their inclusion in the Annex C of the ICCO Agreement throughout the years.Or you might have recently seen announcements calling for country submissions to the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) Ad Hoc Panel...
by Ronan Weggelaar | Apr 28, 2023 | Cocoa Stories
The history of cacao and chocolate is inextricably linked to Mesoamerica and the Olmec, Zapotec, Maya, Toltec and Aztec peoples. The Mesoamerican region extended from what we now know as northern Costa Rica all the way up to central and southern Mexico, including...
by Ronan Weggelaar | Mar 28, 2023 | Cocoa Stories
Food safety regulations are something we all have to deal with along the cocoa and chocolate value chain. By knowing how and where cacao is grown and processed and how it is transported and stored, we can determine which potential food safety risks are involved with a...
