Artisanal or Industrial, Food or Fake: Talk at the DC Chocolate Festival 4.25.25

Posted on by valeriebeck
I’m can hardly wait to give a talk and tasting at the DC Chocolate Festival again this year; look what came back with me from last year’s Festival!

Hi there!

I am honored and excited to give a chocolate talk and tasting Friday, April 25, 2025, at 2:30pm, at the DC Chocolate Festival!

I’ve titled my talk “Artisanal or Industrial, Food or Fake? Making Conscious Chocolate Choices,” and if you are in DC, I hope you will join me in person for a fun, fascinating, and delicious time! In any case, I’ll post my slides here soon, and will post photos after the event.

Event details: 

  • Date: Friday, April 25, 2025
  • Time: 2:30pm ET for my talk; vendor hall open Friday from 2:00pm – 5:30pm and 6:00 – 9:00pm, and Saturday from 10:30am – 2:00pm and 2:00pm – 5:00pm 
  • Location: La Maison Française, Embassy of France in the U.S., Washington, DC, 4101 Reservoir Rd NW 20007
  • Hosted by: The Chocolate House DC — @dcchocolatefestival
  • Tickets: www.DCChocolateFestival.com

Full talk topic:

  • 2:30 pm – 3:15 pm Valerie Beck (founder, Chocolate Uplift and Chicago Chocolate Tours) 
    Title: Artisanal or Industrial, Food or Fake? Making Conscious Chocolate Choices
    Chocolate can be a standardized bulk ingredient in an industrial product with a tainted supply chain, or an exquisite and ethically created specialty that delivers complexity, flavor, and health, while uplifting people and planet. How to tell the difference? We’ll look at how cacao is harvested, fermented, dried, roasted, ground, and developed into finished chocolate, and at how to choose chocolate consciously by deciphering labels, as we enjoy a tasting trip from cocoa bean to chocolate bar. We’ll focus on the rise of “craft” or “bean-to-bar” chocolate, and sample the work of small-batch chocolate makers, as we peer back into the history and ahead to the future of one of the most beloved foods in the world.

I’ll share exquisite craft chocolate from:

On a visit to Potomac Chocolate
On a visit to Potomac Chocolate
With Ben and Cyndi of Potomac Chocolate

Photos and info from my 2024 and 2023 appearances at the Festival are at this link: https://chocolateuplift.com/2024/04/26/the-value-of-chocolate-talk-at-the-dc-chocolate-festival/ .

Onward and upward!

Your friend in chocolate,

Valerie
Valerie Beck

Chocolate Uplift Founder 

Professor Valerie Beck 

LinkedIn | Instagram

valerie@chocolateuplift.com

The Value of Chocolate: Talk at the DC Chocolate Festival

Posted on by valeriebeck

I’m thrilled to return to the DC Chocolate Festival this year, on Saturday, April 27, where I’ll speak on The Value of Chocolate!

The full title of my talk: The Value of Chocolate: Benefits to People and Planet / Who Sets Prices, Who Profits? 

My slides are here. See the comments section below each slide for info, ideas, research, and links.

Here is my post on last year’s Festival and my talk; stay tuned for this year’s event photos!

[Post-event update — scroll down below my signature for these 2024 materials:

  • event photos are below my signature,
  • along with a Confectionery News article related to our topic, and,
  • by request, I’m also attaching my Golden Age Cookies recipe below; I’m thrilled attendees enjoyed the cookies!]

In the meantime: cacao and chocolate are priceless!

I baked Golden Age Cookies to share with my audience, using Crow & Moss Chocolate of Petoskey, Michigan — India chocolate, and Violet Sky Chocolate of South Bend, Indiana — Bolivia cacao nibs. The value of chocolate is exponential!

Valerie
Valerie Beck

At the 2023 DC Chocolate Festival

Chocolate Uplift Founder 

Professor Valerie Beck Tutoring and Coaching

LinkedIn | Instagram

valerie@chocolateuplift.com

[Below: my Golden Age Cookies recipe as requested, and photos from the 2024 event!]

recipe-for-golden-age-cookiesDownload

Article relating to our topic:
Oxfam slams large chocolate companies at World Cocoa Conference

22-Apr-2024 By Anthony Myers

Against a backdrop of cocoa topping $11,000 per metric ton on the futures market for the first time last week, Oxfam says its experts will be highlighting the discrepancies in farmgate price at this week’s World Cocoa Conference (WCC) in Brussels (21-24 April).

HTTPS://WWW.CONFECTIONERYNEWS.COM/ARTICLE/2024/04/22/OXFAM-SLAMS-LARGE-CHOCOLATE-COMPANIES-AT-WORLD-COCOA-CONFERENCE

What’s In Your Chocolate: Presentation for DC Chocolate Festival

Posted on by valeriebeck

Hi!

I’m honored to hold a talk and tasting at the 6th annual DC Chocolate Festival, April 29, 2023!

[Update: event photos are at the bottom of this email! Slides are still in the middle; info in comments to slides!]

Preview of some of what we’ll sample at my tasting! Does this remind you of our #chocolateandcherryblossoms events back in the old chocolate tour days?

My topic:

What’s In Your Chocolate: Explaining Labels, Exploding Myths, Exploring History, Experiencing Flavor: Learn how to decipher chocolate bar labels while we taste our way through chocolate history to the cutting edge of craft chocolate, in this upbeat talk and tasting presented by chocolate expert Valerie Beck.

Click for my slides, which are mainly a resource; see the notes section of the slides for information and links pertaining to what will be mainly a spoken presentation with plenty of chocolate and a few theatrics! : )

📅 Mark your calendar: Saturday, April 29, 2023
⏰ Time: 10:30am – 5:30pm ET
📍 Location: La Maison Française, Embassy of France in the U.S., Washington, DC, 4101 Reservoir Rd NW 20007
🍫Hosted by: The Chocolate House — @dcchocolatefestival
🎟️ Get your tickets now at www.DCChocolateFestival.com
(Charming emoji-filled listing adapted from Glenn of @chocotastery)

Onward and upward!

Your friend in chocolate — and cherry blossoms,

Valerie

With a detail of my favorite sculpture, the monumental Calder (Untitled, 1976), at the National Gallery in Washington, DC

Valerie Beck

Chocolate Uplift Founder 

Professor Valerie Beck Tutoring and Coaching

LinkedIn | Instagram

valerie@chocolateuplift.com