Hi! Happy 2022!

I am excited to have been invited to present a virtual chocolate talk and tasting for two of my alumni clubs together, the Harvard Club of Chicago, and Harvard Alumni for Global Women’s Empowerment (Harvard GlobalWE)!

Here are my presentation materials and links:

The Joy of Chocolate – From “Bean” to Bar

~ Preview — Welcome! Let’s talk about:

• the process of turning cacao into chocolate,
• the people — including women! — behind the purpose-driven craft chocolate movement and behind the history of chocolate, and
• how to know if you’re choosing chocolate that’s good for people and planet!

~ Personal bio — chocolate-obsessed before, during, and after Harvard

• “sizzle reel” montage highlighting Chicago Chocolate Tours and entrepreneurship
• today: craft chocolate distribution, consulting, importing, retailing, speaking/tastings

~ People and process behind specialty cacao and craft chocolate — including some amazing women around the world

• Cacao growing, harvesting, and post-harvest steps, by the women and men of COAGRISCAL in Honduras, who prepare the products for woman-owned Good King Cacao [farm to snack]
• Cacao collaboration, buying, and transport by woman-owned Askanya Chocolate of Haiti, and chocolate making in Haiti by the women of Askanya [video]
• Valerie opens a cacao pod [video]

~ Purpose-driven businesses — from Chicago Chocolate Tours to Chocolate Uplift, consulting to and distributing other purpose-driven brands

• from ancient tradition to…
• …contemporary social impact
• chocolate chooses us!
• cacao and chocolate as portals forward to a Golden Age of empathy and equality, nourishing people and planet

~ Purity of craft chocolate — tasting techniques to perceive and enjoy nuance

• mindfulness: look, sniff, taste
• also: listen, touch, think
• breathe
• repeat!

~ Power of people and planet — recognizing ethical chocolate, which means it is free of human rights abuses and environmental harm

• Tip: all of the big brands are complicit in human rights abuses and environmental harm; they don’t deny it
• Tip: look for small brands, then look on the label for the cacao country of origin, and a clean ingredients list
• Tip: the best chocolate (wine, coffee, diamonds, silk scarves) is not usually found at a standard grocery store, but use the 2 points above to discover any exceptions
• More on classmate David Coale’s podcast where I talk about ethical chocolate and our power of choice

~ And, after all those Ps, my 5 Ss of first-class craft chocolate:

• slavery-free
• soy-free / industrial additive-free
• sustainable / soil-regenerative
• small-batch
• scrumptious!

Thank you! Keep eating real chocolate!

Valerie

Valerie Beck

Founder, Chocolate Uplift

retail: chocolateuplift.etsy.com

wholesale + blog: chocolateuplift.com

instagram: @chocolateuplift

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/valeriebeck/

email: valerie@chocolateuplift.com