Chocolate stops melting, professionals are back to business and the holiday season is just around the corner. This is why October and November are the months of the year usually filled with chocolate festivals, fairs and events all around the world.

From the Salon du Chocolat in Paris to the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle, from CHOCOMAD in Zaragoza all the way to the Indian Craft Chocolate Festival in Bangalore, the fall season is the best chance for chocolate lovers to enjoy weekends filled with fun, education, discovery and appreciation around their favorite food. Also in Italy, chocoholics get to experience their own grand festival every year held in Perugia: the Eurochocolate show.

Established in 1994, Eurochocolate has been the biggest chocolate festival in Italy for the past 3 decades. Rich in mouthwatering stands, cooking shows and chocolate-themed attractions, this Italian organization never failed to offer a fun hub for families, friends, couples and sweet tooth in general to enjoy some days immersed in chocolate. However, something was different this year.

Nobody would have expected Eurochocolate to turn into an interesting destination also for chocolate sommeliers, cacao producers, bean-to-bar professionals and fine palates.

Taking place on October 14-23, 2022 at Umbriafiere, Eurochocolate showed a clear commitment to elevating chocolate to deeper levels of knowledge, understanding and appreciation for all its attendees. Let’s see how they did it.

international bean-to-bar EXHIBITORS

Eurochocolate has always been a true heaven for chocolate gluttony: sweet inclusions, colorful creations, chocolate-covered everything, delicious pairings and more. But the 2022 edition offered many options also to those looking for finer flavors and more sophisticated horizons.

Although the majority of exhibitors showcased industrial chocolate (made from couverture and sold by the pound), craft bean-to-bar chocolate had its own space to shine in a dedicated area: the Eurochocolate World space. Not hidden in a corner, nor at the back of the show, right at the entrance attendees could walk into la crème de la crème of the fine chocolate world. International brands were gathered one next to the other to offer fine-flavor, bean-to-bar, traceable and ethical chocolate that stood out from the rest of the show.

A dozen of countries were represented: the Dominican Republic with Definite Chocolate, Colombia with Color Cacao and Cacao Disidente, Ecuador with Kacau Chocolate, the Philippines with Auro Chocolate, and many more!

This space opened the communication with regular attendees about cacao origins and the infinite flavors of craft bean-to-bar chocolate. The products showcased in this area were righteously sold at an higher price compared to the chocolate in the rest of the show. Only some Italian consumers revealed to be ready to pay such above-average prices for chocolate.

However, while intimidated by the price tags, attendees were simultaneously curious and attracted by these luxurious wrappers, exotic origins, and delicate flavors. They admitted that this kind of chocolate was nothing like they had ever tasted before, sparking hope for a future of better chocolate purchases.

TREE-TO-BAR SPACE

Many chocolate festivals around the world are dedicated to the education of chocolate consumers with presentations, workshops and tastings scheduled in their programs. But no festival has ever built a human-sized itinerary from cacao seed to finished chocolate before.

The Tree-to-Bar Space consisted of a separate and closed area that looked a lot like a museum, but felt way more engaging and dynamic. Attendees could walk through realistic reproductions of cacao trees immersed in the biodiversity of other plants. The showstopper was definitely the large reproduction of a cocoa pod emerging from the trees (that immediately became a popular spot for pictures).

The path kept unfolding to showcase the loyal reproductions of a fermentation station with the typical wooden boxes and a drying center with elevated wooden beds. Attendees were given deep explanations to understand the crucial roles that these post-harvesting processes hold for the production of chocolate.

A real cargo container, where the yuta cacao bags are typically loaded and ready to be shipped across countries, was the bridge connecting the cacao operations to the bean-to-bar activities. The smell of chocolate led attendees to a small yet complete chocolate factory hosted by renowned Italian chocolate machine producer FBM Boscolo. Actual chocolate makers could be seen hand sorting the cocoa beans, roasting, winnowing, conching and molding the finished chocolate bars, ready to be sold at the counter at the end of the itinerary.

Even self-proclaimed “chocolate lovers” among the general public often don’t know much of what happens outside of the finished product, so this space was crucial to educate attendees. Some attentively read bits and pieces of cacao history, others dove their hands in the beans at the drying station, many took pictures with the giant cacao pod or the statue of Aztec emperor Montezuma, and all of them definitely peaked inside the chocolate factory in owe for a good 5 minutes.

This space-museum is sure to stick to attendees’ memory more than any photo, video or presentation ever could.

Also, seeing for themselves the entire tree-to-bar journey gave attendees a great basis to then understand more in-depth presentations scheduled throughout the festival.

TALKS on craft CHOCOLATE AND CACAO ORIGINs

Among cooking shows, book presentations, delicious tastings and interactive chocolate experiences, a good half of the program was dedicated to explaining chocolate on a deeper and more educational level. The actors of these presentations were well-known faces in the craft bean-to-bar chocolate industry, ready to surprise the audience with uncommon chocolate topics like single-origin cacao, fermentation and drying, aromatic profile complexity and much more.

Manlio from Cacao Disidente, craft bean-to-bar maker in Colombia, gave a rather technical presentation on post-harvesting processes, highlighting all the possible details and nuances at origin that can make a big impact on the final chocolate. Surprisingly, the audience of mostly “unaware consumers” was completely captivated by such in-depth explanations (and also by Manlio’s stage charisma). Perhaps, the Italian familiarity with the world of fine wine created an easy bridge with the world of fine chocolate. Nonetheless, it was seriously astonishing to witness a room full of non-professionals listen carefully to such a nerdy topic.

Giuliana from Voglio Cioccolato, craft bean-to-bar chocolate store in Milan and online, led the tasting of 3 samples of dark chocolate made with fine cacao from different origins. After learning the basics of chocolate tastings, attendees were invited to discover the most prominent flavors in each sample with the help of a fun and colorful tasting wheel. Despite the samples being at the exact same cocoa percentage, everybody was incredulous to notice the massive difference in the tasting notes of each origin. This was exactly what Giuliana wanted to demonstrate: not all dark chocolate is created equal.

Rodrigo from Valle Canoabo Chocolate, craft bean-to-bar maker in Venezuela, told the stories behind the renowned Chuao cacao and the community that grows it, but he also highlighted the Venezuelan chocolate brands that focus on fine-flavor cacao, including his own brand. Together with samples from many Venezuelan chocolate makers, Rodrigo brought to Eurochocolate all his passion for cacao and his mission to give a voice to Venezuelan cacao farmers, to the point where the entire crowd got literally emotional and sobbing because of his touching and sincere words.

Other remarkable presentations included the health benefits of cacao, pairing wine and chocolate, and a LIVE streaming with Claudio Corallo, famous craft bean-to-bar chocolate maker in São Tomé.

Italy started being famous in the bean-to-bar world for its innovative machines. Then it developed its own group of craft chocolate makers. Finally, the biggest chocolate festival in the country is also giving space and voice to fine-flavor chocolate.

Italian consumers are now the last piece of the puzzle. Will we ever convince them?