October 31, 2006 - Ten Thousand Villages located in Evanston, Illinois held a free celebration of fair trade chocolate on the 29th.
Shoppers were given a thought provoking quiz about the chocolate industry and then upon filling it out they received a free fair trade bar of
chocolate. Cadbury Schweppes stock fell 1.3% on the London Exchange as a combination of profit taking and Cadbury's lowered
expectations helped drive the stock down to 530 pence. A picture of French singer Olivia Ruiz presents a chocolate dress designed by
Portuguese fashion house Story Tailors and chocolate maker Jacques Bellanger during the chocolate dress fashion show, as part of the
12th World Chocolate Fair, Friday Oct. 27, 2006 in Paris. This year's chocolate fair profits will go to French actress Carole Bouquet's charity
'La Voix de lEnfant' (The Child's Voice). A picture of Spanish model, TV presenter and singer Irene Salvador presents a chocolate dress by
French fashion designer Nelly Biche de Bere and French chocolate maker Michel Galloyer during the chocolate dress fashion show, as
part of the 12th World Chocolate Fair. A picture of French pop star Lorie presents a chocolate dress by French fashion designer Max
Chaoul and chocolate maker Pralus during the chocolate dress fashion show, as part of the 12th World Chocolate Fair. A picture of
Bluebell girls from the Lido, the racy cabaret on Paris' Champs-Elysees, present chocolate costumes during the chocolate dress fashion
show, as part of the 12th World Chocolate Fair. A picture of President Bush putting a lid on a box at The Morley Candy Makers during an
impromptu stop in Clinton Township, Michigan . Around thirty activists from "Reporters Without Borders" staged a protest at the Ivory
Coast booth at the Chocolate Show in Paris, France. They hope to attract attention to the plight of French-Canadian journalist Guy-André
Kieffer who had been investigating the country's cacao industry at the time of his disappearance in April 2004 in Abidjan. He was writing
about corruption in the countries cacao industry at the time. The Seattle Chocolate Co. has quadrupled its volume in the last four years
and has moved into a new 65,000 square foot facility. This article has an interview with Jean Thompson the companies chief financial
officer. Many French firms are using cocoa to enhance beauty treatments including Chocolatherapie from the company Zelda Gavizon.
Sensation Chocolat Paris is another firm creating new products that are also cocoa based.
October 30, 2006 - In 2003 Scott Blackwell baked the worlds biggest cookie a whopping 39,000 pounds. His Immaculate Baking Co.,
whipped up a little something this Halloween season to raise money for local North Carolina charities. A 500 pound pumpkin cookie
which he's claiming is the worlds largest pumpkin cookie. Ten feet in diameter its baked by covering the dough with a metallic polyester
film and shooting hot air into it. The Oderí Cacao Processing Plant, located in the Cacao-rich region of Barlovento in Miranda State,
Venezuela was inaugurated this Friday. The plant took two years to build and can process 500 kilograms an hour or 2,000 tons a year. The
government also granted loans to over 1,500 people in the cacao industry for a total of $13.5 million. Cadbury Schweppes is going to
announce that they are going to enter the UK gum market with the gum produced by their Adams subsidiary. Wrigley currently holds 95%
of the UK gum market and has been operating in the UK since 1911. Just about every animal protection group out there agrees keep your
dogs locked up on Halloween. The kids making noise can freak dogs out and both dogs and cats do not react well to eating chocolate and
there is plenty of loose chocolate laying around on Halloween. Another little piece about Taza Chocolate Lounge in Somerville,
Massachusetts.
October 27, 2006 - China and Indonesia have agreed to suspend certain tariffs. Indonesia will drop their tariff on chili powder from China
and in return China will suspend their tariff on cocoa beans from Indonesia. This should lead to increased demand for Indonesian beans.
Dark chocolate and gourmet chocolate sales are growing at a rate of 30% a year according to Jim Corcoran, vice president of trade
relations of the National Confectioners' Association, USA. He attributes the growth in sales to increased availability and the publics
perception that dark chocolate has health benefits. Cadbury has reevaluated their growth estimates for the rest of 2006. They had
originally forecast growth in the high end of the 3 - 5% range but now believe somewhere in the middle is more likely. They blamed
warmer weather in the United Kingdom for the lower sales estimates not a public backlash to the salmonella scare. A photo of First Lady
Laura Bush shopping for chocolate covered apricots at a chocolate factory, in De Pere, Wis.,
October 26, 2006 - Disruption to cocoa supplies from the Ivory Coast has ceased following suspension of strikes organised by the cacao
growers' trade union Anaproci. Anaproci represents 80% of the countries growers and they have suspended the strike to give the
government time to study there demands.
October 25, 2006 - Australia has quite a chocolate industry going. This article has some interesting quotes from those involved as well
as the news that in 2000 some cocoa plants were planted in North Queensland. They hope to be productive enough so that within two
years there will be a steady supply of beans. Enstrom Candies bought the assets of rival Stephany's Chocolates out of bankruptcy in June
and has rehired more than 30 former Stephany's workers, including master candy maker Emery Dorsey resurrecting the brand. The Death
By Chocolate Baking Contest at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Connecticut was held this past Sunday and the winner was
Nancy Ackerson of Norwalk who took top honors in three categories. The Chocolate Spa is an addition to the Hotel Hershey in Hershey
Pennsylvania. The Spa built in 2001 has become a popular addition to the Hershey Park experience and has expanded twice. There is a
wide range of treatments including chocolate sugar exfoliation, chocolate mask, paraffin dip and chocolate moisturizing massage. The
Roxanne Swentzell Gallery at the Tower Gallery in Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico is selling handmade chocolate masks by the owner.
She has made molds and is able to produce a few masks a day in her home. They sound fairly priced at $15 each. For those having a
hard time deciphering cocoa ratios and what they mean The Associated Press has an excellent article which helps to sort it all out. While
a higher percentage means more cocoa solids and butter it doesn't always translate into taste. Other variables are at work including
processing and the origin of the beans that were used. Is it just us or is this an ingenious idea. Flourish Bakery and Cafe in Edgewater ,
Illinois now offers a service where you can bring in a recipe, for example Grandma's favorite chocolate cake that you remember so well,
and they will bake it for you. Depending on difficulty a 9" cake could run thirty to forty dollars which seems fair for such a service. With
Chocolate Week coming to a close in the United Kingdom icWales has a nice review of the week. In Ashland, Oregon the residents have
responded in a variety of ways to the purchasing of local company Dagoba by Hershey. Some are hopeful that it will bring more jobs to the
community while others lament yet another small firm being acquired. Others hope that the entry of Hershey into the realm of organic
chocolate will help change cocoa production from the inside. Cadbury Ireland is restructuring and it could lead to the loss of jobs at the
Cadbury plant at Rathmore which currently employs 100 workers. Cadbury currently has a 38% share of the chocolate market in Ireland.
Last year the average American consumed 26 pounds of candy. In 2004, there were 1,241 U.S. manufacturing establishments producing
chocolate and cocoa products. Stagnito's New Products Magazine and the Hazelnut Council sponsored a product development contest
recently to find new recipes for hazelnuts. The winner was "Hazelnut Trio," a hazelnut truffle made by Santa Cruz-based chocolatier,
Chocolate Visions. Chocolatier Lloyd Martin and his winning truffle, a trio of crushed hazelnuts, hazelnut paste, and Frangelico (hazelnut
liquor) was introduced at Stagnito's New Products Conference September 9 in Chicago. Indianapolis-based Endangered Species
Chocolate has signed a deal with Target to sell its chocolate in 1,500 stores nationwide. The Hershey Co. plans to buy chocolate liquor
from outside suppliers next year, a move that could eliminate the jobs of up to 100 employees at the company's main chocolate plant. The
Company informed union leaders Tuesday and explained the move will save the company a large sum of money.
October 24, 2006 - Salo is an Ukranian delicacy, a slab of pork fat. Rumour has it some restaurants in the Ukraine are serving it chocolate
covered. As chococentered as we are here at echocolatenyc we'll pass. A good looking recipe for Pureed Chestnut and Chocolate Mound
(Monte Bianco). Caterina Borg used to be the chef at Premier Pastries and baked cookies and brownies. A few twists and turns later finds
her selling her goods on the Internet called Mumsies Gourmet Cookies & Teacakes.
October 23, 2006 - The biggest news in chocolate this week is the purchase of Organic chocolate makers Dagoba by Hershey. Hershey
has been purchasing high end companies as they represent the fastest growth area of the chocolate business and they have higher
margins. Last February Nestle repackaged the popular Cailler chocolate bar , a big seller in France and Switzerland. It was a fiasco,
environmental groups did not approve of the new packaging which had a high proportion of non bio degradable plastic and the new
design didn't take off with retailers and consumers. Sales were halved from the same period the year before and now Nestle is
backtracking and it looks like they will reintroduce the old packaging next year. The evening of November 9th, Best Buddies Rhode Island
will be holding The Art of Chocolate fundraising event . Valrhona Europe CEO Gerard Hugon visited Israel this week to investigate the
increased consumption of chocolate in Israel. Consumption doubled from 50 to 100 tons in the last year. Halloween this year got just a
little sweeter when Doubletree Hotels announced that they will being giving out chocolate chip cookies to anyone who drops by any of their
properties on Halloween. The event will be held at Roger Williams Park Casino in Providence and costs $50. A photo of former German
chancellor Gerhard Schroder holds chocolate gold ingots in a stand of the TFWA (tax free world association) World Exhibition, in Cannes,
France. Hershey, Pennsylvania is not only "the sweetest place on earth" but has five golf courses two of which are excellent . You can book
a reasonable vacation according to this article in USA Today. John Flaig loves Canadian chocolate bar Coffee Crisp which is Canada's
third best selling chocolate bar but until recently was unavailable here in the USA. He started a website coffecrisp.org in 2000 and
launched an online petition hoping to get Nestle to start shipping the bars to the US. He has now succeeded and Nestle has bowed to
public demand and made the bars available here. The Lava Bar is the worlds first molten chocolate bar and it swept the candy category
awards Convenience Store News BEST New Product Award for 2006 and the Teen People® Trendspotters Grand Prize for the Best
Overall Candy Product at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show.
at the There has been a recall of some boxes of Duncan Hines Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix The following are a bunch of
photos from the Chocolate Fair Of Barcelona. A photo of Lindt's Chocolate With Chilli Flavor. A photo of Australian artist Sid Chidiac
retouching a chocolate painting. A photo of a Sagrada Familia sculpture, made with chocolate. A photo of Spanish chef Juan Mari Arzak
speaking during a conference at the 2nd Chocolate Fair in Barcelona.
October 19, 2006 - John Scharffenberger, co-founder of Berkeley, California's chocolate-maker Scharffenberger Chocolate will be
conducting a class in conjunction with Murray's Cheese on Bleecker Street. The class will take place November 10th from 6:00 - 7:30 and
is titled "Chocolate The Master Class". The cost is $50 and includes sampling everything from cocoa beans to nibs to different
Scharffenberger chocolates. Dagoba is running a small sale on there website. Through November 4th get 15% off two of their bars
Sambirano 65% - Madagascar Trinitario Single Origin Prima Materia 100% - 100% Cacao. The 100% sounds like an intimidating number
for sure but both bars sound great as are most of the Dagoba products we've sampled in the past. WBC International Champion Mario
Veit visited the Halloren Chocolate Factory in Halle, Germany. The factory is the oldest running chocolate factory in Germany. The French
firm Roquette has partnered with Meert to develop a premium chocolate product that would be sugar free by using Roquette's product
Maltisorb as a substitute for sugar. If you live in the UK you might want to take a shot at winning a months supply of chocolate. Lincoln
Today is offering the opportunity to win a months worth of Divine Fair Trade Chocolate. ChoCoa the United Arab Emirates chocolate firm
recently celebrated there second Anniversary. They have doubled there business in the last twelve months and import ingredients from
Belgium which allows them to produce 15 tons of chocolate a year. A picture of herbal chocolates from a press conference held by Eu
Yan Sang International Limited in Singapore. The chocolates will be infused with traditional Chinese herbs like Ginseng. Psychology
Today weighs in and writer Willow Lawson makes the scientific case for increasing your intake of chocolate preferably hot chocolate made
from scratch for maximum effect.
October 18, 2006 - Reuters reported that Nicolas Maillot, coordinator of the Brazil-based international association of cocoa and chocolate
makers Associacao dos Profissionais do Cacau Fino e Especial told them "Fairtrade is a good thing, but it's not enough." Maillot believes
the current certification process leaves to much money in the hands of dealers and bureaucrats and did nothing to encourage farmers to
attempt to produce a higher grade chocolate, TransFair's Italia Paolo Pastore replied "The procedure may seem long and bureaucratic but
it is due to strict controls that we have to make to guarantee the quality. We want to make our products trustworthy. Our cocoa should be
good, clean and fair," It is an interesting concept, encouraging farmers to produce a higher quality chocolate and then making sure they
receive an increased standard of living for making the effort. The Press Release announcing the Hershey Kiss Stamp that was unveiled
yesterday by the United States Postal Service. MSN Money reported yesterday that American depository shares of Cadbury Schweppes plc
traded on more than three times its average daily volume, to 1.2 million trades, after a Merrill Lynch analyst cut the U.K.-based chocolate
maker's rating to "Neutral" from "Buy." Seeds of Change, the organic food division of confectionery company Mars is partnering with the
Organic Trade Association and others to encourage Congress to pass laws providing funding to help farmers switch to organic methods
of production. Demand for organic products has been increasing 16% a year and farmers can't catch up. It takes three years of using
organic methods, no pesticides, chemicals etc of production on a piece of farmland before the produce can be labeled organic. The idea
would be to offer farmers transition funding to help them make the switch. While the London Stock Exchange has been hot of late and the
FTSE 100 has been doing well Cadbury's share price has been lagging. Investors have lingering fears that the salmonella scare of a few
months back has yet to sort itself out, especially in the legal and regulatory arena. Masterfoods, makers of Mars and Twix, have recently
passed Cadbury and now have the largest market share in the UK. Joplin , Missouri and Springfield, Missouri are the homes of Candy
House Gourmet Chocolates. The business was started in 1970 and was purchased by Terry Hicklin in 1999. Their factory in Joplin is
8,400 square feet and houses a production room that allows the customers to view the chocolate making process.
October 17, 2006 - Yikes. Cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast went on strike yesterday. Even with the ill effects of Civil War the Ivory Coast
produces 40% of the world's cocoa bean harvest. The farmers are holding back there crop to protest the low price they receive as well as
what they perceive as onerous export taxes. Here in the US the strike in the Ivory Coast may have an effect on the troubled Fulton, New
York - New York Chocolate and Confections Co.- plant. The plant has had financial troubles in the past and is currently owned by a
consortium of Ivory Coast investors and a stoppage of cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast could make a difficult situation worse. The United
States Postal Service has announced that beginning in January , 2007 they will be selling a 39 cents stamp celebrating the one
hundredth Anniversary of the Hershey Kiss. The link also has a picture of the stamp and it looks nice. Here is an interesting recipe from
Renée Loux's "The Balanced Plate: The Essential Elements of Whole Foods and Good Health" for "Chocolate Of The Gods MousseWith
Raspberries And Mint". Things are changing in India. This Diwali season more consumers are looking to purchase baked goods and
healthier fare in general than in previous years. Traditionally sweets are a main gift item during Diwali but that is changing as Indian
become more health conscious. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month
of Ramadan. The end of the month of fasting is celebrated by enjoying eating and this is a link to a photo of a Palestinian vendors
selection of chocolates in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The owners of The Great Harvest Bread Co. of Chapel Hill North Carolina
opened up the ovens on Monday, they're usually closed Mondays, and baked about 2,000 "Deadly Dillon" chocolate chip cookies which
they then shipped off to soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq through a program www.anysoldier.com which tries to pair up donors
with soldiers stationed off the beaten track who aren't usually serviced through existing organizations. No matter what your feelings are
about the current war we should never lose sight of our men and women in uniform who are asked to perform the impossible on a daily
basis. On October 14th we linked to the picture of the building of the chocolate igloo. This links to an informative article about the building
of the igloo and another photo of it. We're not quite sure why it took a scientific study to confirm what we always assumed was common
knowledge , but a new study confirms that those who crave chocolate stimulate the pleasure center of there brain by eating chocolate or for
that matter just by seeing pictures of it. Ciara McCabe and Edmund Rolls of Oxford University in England will be presenting there research
to the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience this week. Upwards of 35,000 doctors and scientists attend the yearly conclave.
Sunday night found Trey Anastasio playing a concert in Asheville, North Carolina. During the show a local drug enforcement agent made
an arrest of Alan Bengivengo of Portland, Oregon. It seems Mr. Bengivengo may have been selling chocolates that contained illegal
mushrooms. We mention this in passing, not that we are commenting on the particular case, but just to remind our readers that chocolate
is frequently used as a covering for illegal drugs and therefore unwrapped chocolate from dubious sources should always be inspected,
especially with Halloween just around the corner.
October 15, 2006 - Franklin, Wisconsin culinary artist Sharon Holden conducts seven hour classes in chocolate truffle making. She
studied in France and leads a hands on session. At the end students take home an assorted two dozen truffles with coconut, raspberry,
pistachio and peppermint are favorites. Tasha Callister is the winner of Ben And Jerry's Do Us a Flavor Contest . The Grand Prize winner
got to see their ice cream flavor become reality. Ms. Callister won woth her entry Puttin' On A Ritz. The flavor is made of Vanilla Ice Cream,
Caramel and Ritz Cracker Swirl with Chunks of Chocolate Covered Sandwiches. Her entry was one of 40,000 and she based it on a
variation of S'mores her family used to make when they were camping.
October 14, 2006 - Creative Energy Foods is making a chocolate flavored energy bar. The company which started in 1998 is now
producing 26,000,000 2 ounce bars a year. This article tells all about company President Wes Felton and the energy bar business. With
all the new found health benefits and better merchandising dark chocolate sales have tripled in England in the last year and the number
of brands have exploded. Woolworths the nations leading seller of confectionary items at retail has increased the number of dark
chocolate items they sell from 3 to 30. This picture is of a model getting a hairstyle composed of chocolate at Eurochocolate, the
Chocolate Fair going on in Perugia , Italy until October 22nd. This picture is of survival instructor Marco Fanti and his students
constructing an igloo made out of 10 kg blocks of chocolate. When done the structure will weigh in at 7,900+ pounds. This photo was also
taken at Eurochocolate. Nestle has announced their schedule for their nine month sales figures for 2006 that will be released October 19,
2006.
October 13, 2006 - John & Kiras has released a new product for the Fall Season that looks great. They take Calabacita figs from Spain,
fill them with a whiskey clove ganache and then coat them in a white chocolate layer that is tinted pumpkin color. They look like tiny
pumpkins and sound like they taste great. In Great Britain the snack maker Kitchen Range Foods has started a new line of individually
packaged chocolate doughnuts made under the Cadbury name which they have licensed. Business Week Online has a nice article about
Jacques Torres , Mr. Chocolate, and information about his two Chocolate Haven's. If you take a look at this article definitely take a look at
the slide show at the bottom as it is informative and the photos are great. By the way a tip of the echocolatenyc hat to Steve D. who was
nice enough to send us an email cluing us in to this article as well as the article about Estonian Chocolate listed under October 14th.
October 12, 2006 -In California all five locations of Helen Grace Chocolates are offering pink wrapped chocolates. When one of these
boxes are purchased a percentage of the sale will go to The American Cancer Society to help fight cancer and raise cancer awareness. To
locate a Helen Grace Chocolates store call 1 - 800 - 367 -4240 or go to www.helengrace.com . Gansevoort, New York is the home of
Castle Creations Chocolatiers the brainchild of Colleen Bradley and Tony Urrato. The company can print pictures, logos, names etc on top
of chocolate. Actually on a layer of icing with edible ink. The article also has a link so that you can watch the process and it is somewhat
interesting. Miller Beer is launching a new beer for the Holidays. Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager will be brewed with 6 different
malts and available in the major Mid Western markets such as Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Minneapolis. Here in New York FAO
Schwarz the toy store on 5th Avenue is currently the home of a 20+ feet high chocolate skyscraper put together by Alain Roby the executive
chef the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The building broke the Guinness Book Of World Records record for such structures. See a cool picture
here. Cadbury has admitted for the first time in its history its incredibly popular Dairy Milk Bar was selling so well in the United Kingdom
that they could not keep up with demand. Throughout its lifespan the bar has been produced at Bournville, Birmingham, England. Some
production was recently farmed out to Blois, France but the Bournville facility is getting an upgrade to the tune of $70,000,000 and should
soon be capable of producing all the Dairy Milk Bars Cadbury needs.
October 11, 2006 - The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and a consortium of chocolate producers including Hershey, Cadbury and Mars
have teamed up to aid sustainable cocoa production in West Africa. The plan is to team up with USAID and to help 150,000 farmers and
their families safely produce cocoa. Scharffen Berger has announced Number 7 in their limited series of chocolate bars. Las Islas, or the
islands, is the name and it is a blend of three different cacao beans from three Caribbean islands: Trinidad, Jamaica and the Dominican
Republic. It is 72% Cacao.
October 10, 2006 - Candy giant Mars announced yesterday that they are going to make CocoaVia Heart Healthy Snacks available in
individual serving sizes. Previously the line was only available in multi - packs. We've mentioned the young gals of Yummy Dummy
Chocolate Company in the past. They were recently mentioned in the 2006 Convocation Speech given by the University of California
Davis Chancellor. Yummy Dummy is owned and operated by seven California youngsters. They make chocolate bars and then donate part
of the proceeds to charity. The German company Gelita won the silver medal for the Most innovative Food Ingredient at the recent FI South
America trade show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Their product , Instant Gel Schoko, which supposedly can be used to replace 25% of the fat in
chocolate without changing the taste or texture of the chocolate. Cocoa production could be in for a downturn this year as farmers in
Cameroon have claimed they have been only given 40% of the pesticides they need. Cameroon is the world's third largest producer of
cocoa so a drop in their cocoa harvest could create a shortfall felt worldwide. Divine the British Fair Trade chocolate company has
released a new chocolate bar. The Mint Dark Chocolate Bar is 70% and flavored with peppermint oil. We were taking a look at the Lake
Champlain Chocolates Chocolate of The Month Gift plan. For less than $40 a month they'll send a nice and interesting selection of
chocolates to whomever you want. They have a 3, 6 and 9 month plan. One item that we didn't see pictured was their Organic Chocolate
Squares assortment. This is a box of 24 pieces. Six each of 34% cocoa content, "Milk Chocolate", 55% cocoa content, "Dark Chocolate",
55% cocoa content with cayenne, pumpkin seeds, and cinnamon, "Dark Spicy Aztec" and the 38% cocoa content "Milk Sea Salt and
Almonds". The Milk Chocolate was better than Okay, The Dark Chocolate could have been a little darker and the Spicy Aztec had a serious
bite to it. What really amazed us was the "Milk Sea Salt And Almonds" which is an exceptional piece of chocolate. The mixture of
sweetness with the light sprinkling of salt and the nutty taste of almond made for a sublime experience. Just a really enjoyable taste. This
box retails for $18 and at seventy five cents a piece we feel this is a tremendous gift item for the upcoming holiday season. Godiva's new
Gold Collection looks interesting and if you make any purchases from it online you get a certificate good for 5 pieces of Godiva chocolate
redeemable at any Godiva Boutique. We haven't yet sampled anything from the collection but reading through the descriptions and looking
at the pictures online we have to say we are excited by what we are seeing.
October 9, 2006 - England's Chocolate Festival has been renamed the Chocolate Week and this year is running Monday, October 16th
through Sunday, October 22nd. Some of the activities include Amazon Monday at Rococo Chocolates , 45 Marylebone High Street, London
W1U 5HG. As an aside Rococo Chocolates has been one of our top ten in the world chocolate shops for awhile and any friends of ours
who are heading to London are always instructed to bring us back a bunch of the Rose and Violet Bars as well as some lemon truffles or
rose/lavender fondants. The service is top notch and we like the wrapping. A real nice, class place to buy chocolate. Now back to
Chocolate Week. Rococo will have tastings as well as a tasting at 4PM of healthy jungle chocolate nibs. There is something for everyone
during Chocolate Week. For the kids there is Children's Hour at Melt, 59 Ledbury Road Notting Hill London W11 2AA on the 17th. For the
aspiring chocolatier there a Chocolate making class with Gerard Coleman also on the 17th. Just a tremendous amount of events, way to
many to go into detail here but you can take a peek at their website. On Saturday October 14th The Union Square Partnership is
sponsoring 3 walking tours through the chocolate shops of the Union Square area. It's $35 to sign up and includes tastings from Chocolat
Michel Cluizel , Chocolat Moderne , The City Bakery , Havana Central , Tarallucci E Vino , Tisserie and Union Square Wines and Spirits.
Barry Callebaut, the Swiss chocolate firm, has signed on with NIZO a Dutch research firm to investigate the physico-chemical behaviour
of cocoa powders in water. This could lead to more stable chocolate drinks such as hot chocolate. Actor Colin Farrell used to entice the
spirit of Marilyn Monroe to come and visit him by placing Smarties, chocolate candies, under his pillow with a note. Portland, Oregon is
the home of yet another new chocolate shop called Cacao. They carry a selection of Pralus, some items from Fran's Chocolates and
some "unusual" items from Chuao Chocolatier. They also have a marble hot chocolate bar and serve a 72% "drinking chocolate".
Lafayette, Indiana is the home of Candyman Can Candies. Darrell Oliphant the owner first started making chocolates as gifts for friends.
In 2004 he launched his business and now carries more than 100 different chocolates in his shop. He handles the making of the
chocolates and Carol Dearing uses her artistic abilities to make the chocolates look great. The British firm Spooner Vicars displayed at
the IBA trade fair their new chocolate moulding equipment the vdE Chocolate Moulding machine. The designer is Hans van der Ent of Van
der Ent Machines. The machne is purportedly quieter than a conventional machine and is easier to clean than previous machines which
could help after the Cadbury salmonella scare. If you think you might find yourself in the vicinity of Lincoln, England on Saturday October
28th you might want to consider checking out the Chocolate Bar which is a charity event to raise money for The Meningitis Trust and the
NSPCC. The event will be held at Kelham Hall, Newark and will include a champagne reception and a chocolate fountain.
October 8, 2006 - M&Ms have launched a new and improved website that is worth taking a look at. Of course now that you can get
whatever you want printed on an M&M it is also an interesting site to investigate if you are looking for party favors.
October 6, 2006 - Arsene Wegner the coach of the Arsenal soccer team certainly wont be asked to coach any of the echocolatenyc
empire's various sporting clubs. When asked what has led to his ten year run of success he replied " I banned the players from stuffing
their faces with chocolate". Personally we'd rather lost the occasional sporting match than stop stuffing our faces with chocolate but that's
us. Kathy India the owner of Candy Bouquet in Aurora, Illinois will be presenting the History Of Chocolate at 2 p.m. Sunday at the David L.
Pierce Art & History Center, 20 E. Downer in downtown Aurora.
October 5, 2006 - Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. said hotter weather led to an 8% decrease in second quarter profits from last
year. B.T. Mc Elrath has announced their Fall Collection. $10.00 will get you a five piece box of Harvest Moon Truffles. We haven't had a
chance to try them but when we read "Pumpkin and spice ganache centers are blanketed in dark chocolate" we're interested". Also in the
lineup are Maple Pecan Meltaways which are Maple Meltaways covered in Dark Chocolate and then sprinkled with Pecan pieces and
Maple Sugar. In the world of Milk Chocolate they've also released Salted Butter Caramel Butterflies which is burnt caramel and salted
butter in 38% Milk Chocolate. A fun article by Deborah Markus on Bella Online about mixing Peanut Butter and Chocolate and a recipe for
peanut butter-chocolate chunk muffins.
October 4, 2006 - The Almond Board of California has commissioned the Almond Sensory Lexicon. The Lexicon which is the first effort to
quantify texture, appearance, flavor and aroma of twenty different almonds. Such knowledge has been in circulation about peanuts for
years but this is the first time it has been done for almonds. This should help those who hope to use almonds as ingredients in cooking,
chocolate covered, etc consistently select the same almonds for use. Gladstone, Canada - Western Toronto - is the home of the
Cadbury's Adam's factory. The factory opened in 1904 , under the ownership of William Neilson as a two story attachment to his house. In
1906 they started chocolate production before that they were an ice cream facility which of course makes this year their 100th Anniversary
in the candy business. By 1919 they were producing a staggering 5.5 million tons of chocolate a year. The Crispy Crunch Bar came along
in 1930 and was the brainchild of Harold Oswin , a worker at the factory who received five big dollars as the winner of an employee contest.
The company was purchased in 1996 by Cadbury and is still making the Crispy Crunch Bar today. Chocolate World the Belgian concern
that manufactures polycarbonate injection moulds for chocolate had its newer moulds on display at the recent IBA Trade Fair in Germany.
The basic Heart Shaped mould is still number 1and is displayed alongside ducks and bear moulds. If you happen to be in Baltimore ,
Maryland this weekend you might want to take a look at the Lexington Market - Eutaw and Greene Streets for the 24th Annual Chocolate
Festival. You can sample chocolate from some of Baltimore's finest chocolatiers. The Belgian firm Belcolade a subsidiary of Puratos has
introduced a new line "Origins" of sourced chocolate. Belcolade's five types of chocolate, hail from Peru, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela,
Ecuador and Costa Rica, and will be available for manufacturers to use in fillings, moulds and injections.
October 3, 2006 - Lake Champlain Chocolates has announced their plans for Valentine's Day 2007. They have a variety of sizes of heart
shaped boxes, anywhere from 6 to 22 pieces. They also have heart shaped chocolates, Valentine Conversation Squares, Hearts Bags,
Heart Pops, and Raspberry Cream Hearts. There is also a five piece Valentine's Truffles Box and well you be the judge. Take a look at
their website. Here in New York City we frequently run across Lake Champlain's bars and have always found them to be tasty and high
quality so I would imagine their Valentine's Day offerings will be a well regarded gift. From San Francisco comes the Fall Collection of
Joseph Schmidt and it looks like a winner with a creative flair. Here are some of the Fall flavors that are available. Milk chocolate truffles
with sweet pear or toffee ganache. We look forward to checking out the sweet pear at some point and we have always felt pear has been
under utilized by chocolatiers. A Dark Chocolate truffle flavored with apricot brandy. Pumpkin shaped truffles filled with pumpkin spice
nougat a must try. Of course there's a Halloween item, A Jack O' Lantern Gift Box and a host of returning favorites. When you get a chance
take a look at their website. In the United Kingdom talks are under way between the health department, the British Retail Consortium
(BRC) and the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) to find ways to combat obesity. What they are hoping to do is help promote the
sales of fruits at the expense of "sweets". The discussions involve forcing stores to devote display space that previously went to chocolate
and other sweets to fruits and nuts. All we can say is WOW to the commitment M&Ms has made to eradicating breast cancer through its
partnership with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. We recently ran here in New York, a 5K run, to help raise money for the
Foundation and now we see Mars Inc. parent company of M&Ms has joined the Million Dollar Council, raising at least a million and helping
to spread information about breast cancer. Also through the months of October and November you will be able to buy special packs filled
with pink M&Ms with some of the proceeds going directly to help fight breast cancer. You can also check out BrightIdeas.Com for a cool
pink ribbon cupcake recipe using the M&Ms. Bright Ideas is a neat site to check out if you have kids as they have lots of great ideas for fun
activities and recipes. Pan Sino International has announced plans to build Singapore’s largest cocoa processing plant at the Jurong
Industrial Estate. They hope the plant will be able have a capacity of 20,160 tons of cocoa butter and cocoa powder on their first processing
line. The beans will be processed into cocoa powder, cocoa butter and cocoa cake and will be available for export.
October 2, 2006 - San Isidro, Davao del Norte, The Philippines is home to the local drink “sikwate.” The drink is a hot , syrupy , chocolate
concoction that is considered by many to be an aphrodisiac. The drink is brewed from tablea which is a semi - processed dark chocolate
made from roasted cocoa beans. The whole town seems to be involved in the small scale cultivation of cocoa beans, for the most part the
men farm them and the women roast them up. Even though most of the tablea is being consumed locally the town's residents are hoping
to eventually export some of their product to the outside world. Somerville, Massachusetts was the site of "What The Fluff" a festival
devoted to Fluffernutter which was invented in 1917 by one of the town's residents Archibald Query. Visitors to the Festival were treated to
a cooking contest and a science fair among other activities. The Flufferettes, a group of women, performed the Brenda Lee song
"Marshmallow World". First Prize in the cooking contest was a years supply of Fluffernutter and a tour of the factory in nearby Lynn,
Massachusetts. Mira Savich of Chicago, Illinois has been making chocolate since 1964. In April of that year she started working for
Gayety's Chocolates and Ice Cream Co. When they left Chicago for Lansing, Indiana she followed along and now spends her days happily
dipping and pouring chocolate into molds. Also in Chicago World's Finest Chocolate has named former vice president of finance at Follet
Corp. Michael S. Broz as chief financial officer and head of information technology. Scientists may have discovered a new way to test dark
chocolate for the presence of peanuts. Currently the way to test for peanuts has been the ELISA test and because of the presence of tannin
it is quite possible to get a false reading making it inadvisable for those with peanut allergies to indulge in dark chocolate.
Shoppers were given a thought provoking quiz about the chocolate industry and then upon filling it out they received a free fair trade bar of
chocolate. Cadbury Schweppes stock fell 1.3% on the London Exchange as a combination of profit taking and Cadbury's lowered
expectations helped drive the stock down to 530 pence. A picture of French singer Olivia Ruiz presents a chocolate dress designed by
Portuguese fashion house Story Tailors and chocolate maker Jacques Bellanger during the chocolate dress fashion show, as part of the
12th World Chocolate Fair, Friday Oct. 27, 2006 in Paris. This year's chocolate fair profits will go to French actress Carole Bouquet's charity
'La Voix de lEnfant' (The Child's Voice). A picture of Spanish model, TV presenter and singer Irene Salvador presents a chocolate dress by
French fashion designer Nelly Biche de Bere and French chocolate maker Michel Galloyer during the chocolate dress fashion show, as
part of the 12th World Chocolate Fair. A picture of French pop star Lorie presents a chocolate dress by French fashion designer Max
Chaoul and chocolate maker Pralus during the chocolate dress fashion show, as part of the 12th World Chocolate Fair. A picture of
Bluebell girls from the Lido, the racy cabaret on Paris' Champs-Elysees, present chocolate costumes during the chocolate dress fashion
show, as part of the 12th World Chocolate Fair. A picture of President Bush putting a lid on a box at The Morley Candy Makers during an
impromptu stop in Clinton Township, Michigan . Around thirty activists from "Reporters Without Borders" staged a protest at the Ivory
Coast booth at the Chocolate Show in Paris, France. They hope to attract attention to the plight of French-Canadian journalist Guy-André
Kieffer who had been investigating the country's cacao industry at the time of his disappearance in April 2004 in Abidjan. He was writing
about corruption in the countries cacao industry at the time. The Seattle Chocolate Co. has quadrupled its volume in the last four years
and has moved into a new 65,000 square foot facility. This article has an interview with Jean Thompson the companies chief financial
officer. Many French firms are using cocoa to enhance beauty treatments including Chocolatherapie from the company Zelda Gavizon.
Sensation Chocolat Paris is another firm creating new products that are also cocoa based.
October 30, 2006 - In 2003 Scott Blackwell baked the worlds biggest cookie a whopping 39,000 pounds. His Immaculate Baking Co.,
whipped up a little something this Halloween season to raise money for local North Carolina charities. A 500 pound pumpkin cookie
which he's claiming is the worlds largest pumpkin cookie. Ten feet in diameter its baked by covering the dough with a metallic polyester
film and shooting hot air into it. The Oderí Cacao Processing Plant, located in the Cacao-rich region of Barlovento in Miranda State,
Venezuela was inaugurated this Friday. The plant took two years to build and can process 500 kilograms an hour or 2,000 tons a year. The
government also granted loans to over 1,500 people in the cacao industry for a total of $13.5 million. Cadbury Schweppes is going to
announce that they are going to enter the UK gum market with the gum produced by their Adams subsidiary. Wrigley currently holds 95%
of the UK gum market and has been operating in the UK since 1911. Just about every animal protection group out there agrees keep your
dogs locked up on Halloween. The kids making noise can freak dogs out and both dogs and cats do not react well to eating chocolate and
there is plenty of loose chocolate laying around on Halloween. Another little piece about Taza Chocolate Lounge in Somerville,
Massachusetts.
October 27, 2006 - China and Indonesia have agreed to suspend certain tariffs. Indonesia will drop their tariff on chili powder from China
and in return China will suspend their tariff on cocoa beans from Indonesia. This should lead to increased demand for Indonesian beans.
Dark chocolate and gourmet chocolate sales are growing at a rate of 30% a year according to Jim Corcoran, vice president of trade
relations of the National Confectioners' Association, USA. He attributes the growth in sales to increased availability and the publics
perception that dark chocolate has health benefits. Cadbury has reevaluated their growth estimates for the rest of 2006. They had
originally forecast growth in the high end of the 3 - 5% range but now believe somewhere in the middle is more likely. They blamed
warmer weather in the United Kingdom for the lower sales estimates not a public backlash to the salmonella scare. A photo of First Lady
Laura Bush shopping for chocolate covered apricots at a chocolate factory, in De Pere, Wis.,
October 26, 2006 - Disruption to cocoa supplies from the Ivory Coast has ceased following suspension of strikes organised by the cacao
growers' trade union Anaproci. Anaproci represents 80% of the countries growers and they have suspended the strike to give the
government time to study there demands.
October 25, 2006 - Australia has quite a chocolate industry going. This article has some interesting quotes from those involved as well
as the news that in 2000 some cocoa plants were planted in North Queensland. They hope to be productive enough so that within two
years there will be a steady supply of beans. Enstrom Candies bought the assets of rival Stephany's Chocolates out of bankruptcy in June
and has rehired more than 30 former Stephany's workers, including master candy maker Emery Dorsey resurrecting the brand. The Death
By Chocolate Baking Contest at the Stamford Museum & Nature Center in Connecticut was held this past Sunday and the winner was
Nancy Ackerson of Norwalk who took top honors in three categories. The Chocolate Spa is an addition to the Hotel Hershey in Hershey
Pennsylvania. The Spa built in 2001 has become a popular addition to the Hershey Park experience and has expanded twice. There is a
wide range of treatments including chocolate sugar exfoliation, chocolate mask, paraffin dip and chocolate moisturizing massage. The
Roxanne Swentzell Gallery at the Tower Gallery in Pojoaque Pueblo, New Mexico is selling handmade chocolate masks by the owner.
She has made molds and is able to produce a few masks a day in her home. They sound fairly priced at $15 each. For those having a
hard time deciphering cocoa ratios and what they mean The Associated Press has an excellent article which helps to sort it all out. While
a higher percentage means more cocoa solids and butter it doesn't always translate into taste. Other variables are at work including
processing and the origin of the beans that were used. Is it just us or is this an ingenious idea. Flourish Bakery and Cafe in Edgewater ,
Illinois now offers a service where you can bring in a recipe, for example Grandma's favorite chocolate cake that you remember so well,
and they will bake it for you. Depending on difficulty a 9" cake could run thirty to forty dollars which seems fair for such a service. With
Chocolate Week coming to a close in the United Kingdom icWales has a nice review of the week. In Ashland, Oregon the residents have
responded in a variety of ways to the purchasing of local company Dagoba by Hershey. Some are hopeful that it will bring more jobs to the
community while others lament yet another small firm being acquired. Others hope that the entry of Hershey into the realm of organic
chocolate will help change cocoa production from the inside. Cadbury Ireland is restructuring and it could lead to the loss of jobs at the
Cadbury plant at Rathmore which currently employs 100 workers. Cadbury currently has a 38% share of the chocolate market in Ireland.
Last year the average American consumed 26 pounds of candy. In 2004, there were 1,241 U.S. manufacturing establishments producing
chocolate and cocoa products. Stagnito's New Products Magazine and the Hazelnut Council sponsored a product development contest
recently to find new recipes for hazelnuts. The winner was "Hazelnut Trio," a hazelnut truffle made by Santa Cruz-based chocolatier,
Chocolate Visions. Chocolatier Lloyd Martin and his winning truffle, a trio of crushed hazelnuts, hazelnut paste, and Frangelico (hazelnut
liquor) was introduced at Stagnito's New Products Conference September 9 in Chicago. Indianapolis-based Endangered Species
Chocolate has signed a deal with Target to sell its chocolate in 1,500 stores nationwide. The Hershey Co. plans to buy chocolate liquor
from outside suppliers next year, a move that could eliminate the jobs of up to 100 employees at the company's main chocolate plant. The
Company informed union leaders Tuesday and explained the move will save the company a large sum of money.
October 24, 2006 - Salo is an Ukranian delicacy, a slab of pork fat. Rumour has it some restaurants in the Ukraine are serving it chocolate
covered. As chococentered as we are here at echocolatenyc we'll pass. A good looking recipe for Pureed Chestnut and Chocolate Mound
(Monte Bianco). Caterina Borg used to be the chef at Premier Pastries and baked cookies and brownies. A few twists and turns later finds
her selling her goods on the Internet called Mumsies Gourmet Cookies & Teacakes.
October 23, 2006 - The biggest news in chocolate this week is the purchase of Organic chocolate makers Dagoba by Hershey. Hershey
has been purchasing high end companies as they represent the fastest growth area of the chocolate business and they have higher
margins. Last February Nestle repackaged the popular Cailler chocolate bar , a big seller in France and Switzerland. It was a fiasco,
environmental groups did not approve of the new packaging which had a high proportion of non bio degradable plastic and the new
design didn't take off with retailers and consumers. Sales were halved from the same period the year before and now Nestle is
backtracking and it looks like they will reintroduce the old packaging next year. The evening of November 9th, Best Buddies Rhode Island
will be holding The Art of Chocolate fundraising event . Valrhona Europe CEO Gerard Hugon visited Israel this week to investigate the
increased consumption of chocolate in Israel. Consumption doubled from 50 to 100 tons in the last year. Halloween this year got just a
little sweeter when Doubletree Hotels announced that they will being giving out chocolate chip cookies to anyone who drops by any of their
properties on Halloween. The event will be held at Roger Williams Park Casino in Providence and costs $50. A photo of former German
chancellor Gerhard Schroder holds chocolate gold ingots in a stand of the TFWA (tax free world association) World Exhibition, in Cannes,
France. Hershey, Pennsylvania is not only "the sweetest place on earth" but has five golf courses two of which are excellent . You can book
a reasonable vacation according to this article in USA Today. John Flaig loves Canadian chocolate bar Coffee Crisp which is Canada's
third best selling chocolate bar but until recently was unavailable here in the USA. He started a website coffecrisp.org in 2000 and
launched an online petition hoping to get Nestle to start shipping the bars to the US. He has now succeeded and Nestle has bowed to
public demand and made the bars available here. The Lava Bar is the worlds first molten chocolate bar and it swept the candy category
awards Convenience Store News BEST New Product Award for 2006 and the Teen People® Trendspotters Grand Prize for the Best
Overall Candy Product at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) show.
at the There has been a recall of some boxes of Duncan Hines Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Muffin Mix The following are a bunch of
photos from the Chocolate Fair Of Barcelona. A photo of Lindt's Chocolate With Chilli Flavor. A photo of Australian artist Sid Chidiac
retouching a chocolate painting. A photo of a Sagrada Familia sculpture, made with chocolate. A photo of Spanish chef Juan Mari Arzak
speaking during a conference at the 2nd Chocolate Fair in Barcelona.
October 19, 2006 - John Scharffenberger, co-founder of Berkeley, California's chocolate-maker Scharffenberger Chocolate will be
conducting a class in conjunction with Murray's Cheese on Bleecker Street. The class will take place November 10th from 6:00 - 7:30 and
is titled "Chocolate The Master Class". The cost is $50 and includes sampling everything from cocoa beans to nibs to different
Scharffenberger chocolates. Dagoba is running a small sale on there website. Through November 4th get 15% off two of their bars
Sambirano 65% - Madagascar Trinitario Single Origin Prima Materia 100% - 100% Cacao. The 100% sounds like an intimidating number
for sure but both bars sound great as are most of the Dagoba products we've sampled in the past. WBC International Champion Mario
Veit visited the Halloren Chocolate Factory in Halle, Germany. The factory is the oldest running chocolate factory in Germany. The French
firm Roquette has partnered with Meert to develop a premium chocolate product that would be sugar free by using Roquette's product
Maltisorb as a substitute for sugar. If you live in the UK you might want to take a shot at winning a months supply of chocolate. Lincoln
Today is offering the opportunity to win a months worth of Divine Fair Trade Chocolate. ChoCoa the United Arab Emirates chocolate firm
recently celebrated there second Anniversary. They have doubled there business in the last twelve months and import ingredients from
Belgium which allows them to produce 15 tons of chocolate a year. A picture of herbal chocolates from a press conference held by Eu
Yan Sang International Limited in Singapore. The chocolates will be infused with traditional Chinese herbs like Ginseng. Psychology
Today weighs in and writer Willow Lawson makes the scientific case for increasing your intake of chocolate preferably hot chocolate made
from scratch for maximum effect.
October 18, 2006 - Reuters reported that Nicolas Maillot, coordinator of the Brazil-based international association of cocoa and chocolate
makers Associacao dos Profissionais do Cacau Fino e Especial told them "Fairtrade is a good thing, but it's not enough." Maillot believes
the current certification process leaves to much money in the hands of dealers and bureaucrats and did nothing to encourage farmers to
attempt to produce a higher grade chocolate, TransFair's Italia Paolo Pastore replied "The procedure may seem long and bureaucratic but
it is due to strict controls that we have to make to guarantee the quality. We want to make our products trustworthy. Our cocoa should be
good, clean and fair," It is an interesting concept, encouraging farmers to produce a higher quality chocolate and then making sure they
receive an increased standard of living for making the effort. The Press Release announcing the Hershey Kiss Stamp that was unveiled
yesterday by the United States Postal Service. MSN Money reported yesterday that American depository shares of Cadbury Schweppes plc
traded on more than three times its average daily volume, to 1.2 million trades, after a Merrill Lynch analyst cut the U.K.-based chocolate
maker's rating to "Neutral" from "Buy." Seeds of Change, the organic food division of confectionery company Mars is partnering with the
Organic Trade Association and others to encourage Congress to pass laws providing funding to help farmers switch to organic methods
of production. Demand for organic products has been increasing 16% a year and farmers can't catch up. It takes three years of using
organic methods, no pesticides, chemicals etc of production on a piece of farmland before the produce can be labeled organic. The idea
would be to offer farmers transition funding to help them make the switch. While the London Stock Exchange has been hot of late and the
FTSE 100 has been doing well Cadbury's share price has been lagging. Investors have lingering fears that the salmonella scare of a few
months back has yet to sort itself out, especially in the legal and regulatory arena. Masterfoods, makers of Mars and Twix, have recently
passed Cadbury and now have the largest market share in the UK. Joplin , Missouri and Springfield, Missouri are the homes of Candy
House Gourmet Chocolates. The business was started in 1970 and was purchased by Terry Hicklin in 1999. Their factory in Joplin is
8,400 square feet and houses a production room that allows the customers to view the chocolate making process.
October 17, 2006 - Yikes. Cocoa farmers in the Ivory Coast went on strike yesterday. Even with the ill effects of Civil War the Ivory Coast
produces 40% of the world's cocoa bean harvest. The farmers are holding back there crop to protest the low price they receive as well as
what they perceive as onerous export taxes. Here in the US the strike in the Ivory Coast may have an effect on the troubled Fulton, New
York - New York Chocolate and Confections Co.- plant. The plant has had financial troubles in the past and is currently owned by a
consortium of Ivory Coast investors and a stoppage of cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast could make a difficult situation worse. The United
States Postal Service has announced that beginning in January , 2007 they will be selling a 39 cents stamp celebrating the one
hundredth Anniversary of the Hershey Kiss. The link also has a picture of the stamp and it looks nice. Here is an interesting recipe from
Renée Loux's "The Balanced Plate: The Essential Elements of Whole Foods and Good Health" for "Chocolate Of The Gods MousseWith
Raspberries And Mint". Things are changing in India. This Diwali season more consumers are looking to purchase baked goods and
healthier fare in general than in previous years. Traditionally sweets are a main gift item during Diwali but that is changing as Indian
become more health conscious. Muslims around the world are preparing to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy month
of Ramadan. The end of the month of fasting is celebrated by enjoying eating and this is a link to a photo of a Palestinian vendors
selection of chocolates in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The owners of The Great Harvest Bread Co. of Chapel Hill North Carolina
opened up the ovens on Monday, they're usually closed Mondays, and baked about 2,000 "Deadly Dillon" chocolate chip cookies which
they then shipped off to soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq through a program www.anysoldier.com which tries to pair up donors
with soldiers stationed off the beaten track who aren't usually serviced through existing organizations. No matter what your feelings are
about the current war we should never lose sight of our men and women in uniform who are asked to perform the impossible on a daily
basis. On October 14th we linked to the picture of the building of the chocolate igloo. This links to an informative article about the building
of the igloo and another photo of it. We're not quite sure why it took a scientific study to confirm what we always assumed was common
knowledge , but a new study confirms that those who crave chocolate stimulate the pleasure center of there brain by eating chocolate or for
that matter just by seeing pictures of it. Ciara McCabe and Edmund Rolls of Oxford University in England will be presenting there research
to the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience this week. Upwards of 35,000 doctors and scientists attend the yearly conclave.
Sunday night found Trey Anastasio playing a concert in Asheville, North Carolina. During the show a local drug enforcement agent made
an arrest of Alan Bengivengo of Portland, Oregon. It seems Mr. Bengivengo may have been selling chocolates that contained illegal
mushrooms. We mention this in passing, not that we are commenting on the particular case, but just to remind our readers that chocolate
is frequently used as a covering for illegal drugs and therefore unwrapped chocolate from dubious sources should always be inspected,
especially with Halloween just around the corner.
October 15, 2006 - Franklin, Wisconsin culinary artist Sharon Holden conducts seven hour classes in chocolate truffle making. She
studied in France and leads a hands on session. At the end students take home an assorted two dozen truffles with coconut, raspberry,
pistachio and peppermint are favorites. Tasha Callister is the winner of Ben And Jerry's Do Us a Flavor Contest . The Grand Prize winner
got to see their ice cream flavor become reality. Ms. Callister won woth her entry Puttin' On A Ritz. The flavor is made of Vanilla Ice Cream,
Caramel and Ritz Cracker Swirl with Chunks of Chocolate Covered Sandwiches. Her entry was one of 40,000 and she based it on a
variation of S'mores her family used to make when they were camping.
October 14, 2006 - Creative Energy Foods is making a chocolate flavored energy bar. The company which started in 1998 is now
producing 26,000,000 2 ounce bars a year. This article tells all about company President Wes Felton and the energy bar business. With
all the new found health benefits and better merchandising dark chocolate sales have tripled in England in the last year and the number
of brands have exploded. Woolworths the nations leading seller of confectionary items at retail has increased the number of dark
chocolate items they sell from 3 to 30. This picture is of a model getting a hairstyle composed of chocolate at Eurochocolate, the
Chocolate Fair going on in Perugia , Italy until October 22nd. This picture is of survival instructor Marco Fanti and his students
constructing an igloo made out of 10 kg blocks of chocolate. When done the structure will weigh in at 7,900+ pounds. This photo was also
taken at Eurochocolate. Nestle has announced their schedule for their nine month sales figures for 2006 that will be released October 19,
2006.
October 13, 2006 - John & Kiras has released a new product for the Fall Season that looks great. They take Calabacita figs from Spain,
fill them with a whiskey clove ganache and then coat them in a white chocolate layer that is tinted pumpkin color. They look like tiny
pumpkins and sound like they taste great. In Great Britain the snack maker Kitchen Range Foods has started a new line of individually
packaged chocolate doughnuts made under the Cadbury name which they have licensed. Business Week Online has a nice article about
Jacques Torres , Mr. Chocolate, and information about his two Chocolate Haven's. If you take a look at this article definitely take a look at
the slide show at the bottom as it is informative and the photos are great. By the way a tip of the echocolatenyc hat to Steve D. who was
nice enough to send us an email cluing us in to this article as well as the article about Estonian Chocolate listed under October 14th.
October 12, 2006 -In California all five locations of Helen Grace Chocolates are offering pink wrapped chocolates. When one of these
boxes are purchased a percentage of the sale will go to The American Cancer Society to help fight cancer and raise cancer awareness. To
locate a Helen Grace Chocolates store call 1 - 800 - 367 -4240 or go to www.helengrace.com . Gansevoort, New York is the home of
Castle Creations Chocolatiers the brainchild of Colleen Bradley and Tony Urrato. The company can print pictures, logos, names etc on top
of chocolate. Actually on a layer of icing with edible ink. The article also has a link so that you can watch the process and it is somewhat
interesting. Miller Beer is launching a new beer for the Holidays. Frederick Miller Classic Chocolate Lager will be brewed with 6 different
malts and available in the major Mid Western markets such as Chicago, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Minneapolis. Here in New York FAO
Schwarz the toy store on 5th Avenue is currently the home of a 20+ feet high chocolate skyscraper put together by Alain Roby the executive
chef the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The building broke the Guinness Book Of World Records record for such structures. See a cool picture
here. Cadbury has admitted for the first time in its history its incredibly popular Dairy Milk Bar was selling so well in the United Kingdom
that they could not keep up with demand. Throughout its lifespan the bar has been produced at Bournville, Birmingham, England. Some
production was recently farmed out to Blois, France but the Bournville facility is getting an upgrade to the tune of $70,000,000 and should
soon be capable of producing all the Dairy Milk Bars Cadbury needs.
October 11, 2006 - The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) and a consortium of chocolate producers including Hershey, Cadbury and Mars
have teamed up to aid sustainable cocoa production in West Africa. The plan is to team up with USAID and to help 150,000 farmers and
their families safely produce cocoa. Scharffen Berger has announced Number 7 in their limited series of chocolate bars. Las Islas, or the
islands, is the name and it is a blend of three different cacao beans from three Caribbean islands: Trinidad, Jamaica and the Dominican
Republic. It is 72% Cacao.
October 10, 2006 - Candy giant Mars announced yesterday that they are going to make CocoaVia Heart Healthy Snacks available in
individual serving sizes. Previously the line was only available in multi - packs. We've mentioned the young gals of Yummy Dummy
Chocolate Company in the past. They were recently mentioned in the 2006 Convocation Speech given by the University of California
Davis Chancellor. Yummy Dummy is owned and operated by seven California youngsters. They make chocolate bars and then donate part
of the proceeds to charity. The German company Gelita won the silver medal for the Most innovative Food Ingredient at the recent FI South
America trade show in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Their product , Instant Gel Schoko, which supposedly can be used to replace 25% of the fat in
chocolate without changing the taste or texture of the chocolate. Cocoa production could be in for a downturn this year as farmers in
Cameroon have claimed they have been only given 40% of the pesticides they need. Cameroon is the world's third largest producer of
cocoa so a drop in their cocoa harvest could create a shortfall felt worldwide. Divine the British Fair Trade chocolate company has
released a new chocolate bar. The Mint Dark Chocolate Bar is 70% and flavored with peppermint oil. We were taking a look at the Lake
Champlain Chocolates Chocolate of The Month Gift plan. For less than $40 a month they'll send a nice and interesting selection of
chocolates to whomever you want. They have a 3, 6 and 9 month plan. One item that we didn't see pictured was their Organic Chocolate
Squares assortment. This is a box of 24 pieces. Six each of 34% cocoa content, "Milk Chocolate", 55% cocoa content, "Dark Chocolate",
55% cocoa content with cayenne, pumpkin seeds, and cinnamon, "Dark Spicy Aztec" and the 38% cocoa content "Milk Sea Salt and
Almonds". The Milk Chocolate was better than Okay, The Dark Chocolate could have been a little darker and the Spicy Aztec had a serious
bite to it. What really amazed us was the "Milk Sea Salt And Almonds" which is an exceptional piece of chocolate. The mixture of
sweetness with the light sprinkling of salt and the nutty taste of almond made for a sublime experience. Just a really enjoyable taste. This
box retails for $18 and at seventy five cents a piece we feel this is a tremendous gift item for the upcoming holiday season. Godiva's new
Gold Collection looks interesting and if you make any purchases from it online you get a certificate good for 5 pieces of Godiva chocolate
redeemable at any Godiva Boutique. We haven't yet sampled anything from the collection but reading through the descriptions and looking
at the pictures online we have to say we are excited by what we are seeing.
October 9, 2006 - England's Chocolate Festival has been renamed the Chocolate Week and this year is running Monday, October 16th
through Sunday, October 22nd. Some of the activities include Amazon Monday at Rococo Chocolates , 45 Marylebone High Street, London
W1U 5HG. As an aside Rococo Chocolates has been one of our top ten in the world chocolate shops for awhile and any friends of ours
who are heading to London are always instructed to bring us back a bunch of the Rose and Violet Bars as well as some lemon truffles or
rose/lavender fondants. The service is top notch and we like the wrapping. A real nice, class place to buy chocolate. Now back to
Chocolate Week. Rococo will have tastings as well as a tasting at 4PM of healthy jungle chocolate nibs. There is something for everyone
during Chocolate Week. For the kids there is Children's Hour at Melt, 59 Ledbury Road Notting Hill London W11 2AA on the 17th. For the
aspiring chocolatier there a Chocolate making class with Gerard Coleman also on the 17th. Just a tremendous amount of events, way to
many to go into detail here but you can take a peek at their website. On Saturday October 14th The Union Square Partnership is
sponsoring 3 walking tours through the chocolate shops of the Union Square area. It's $35 to sign up and includes tastings from Chocolat
Michel Cluizel , Chocolat Moderne , The City Bakery , Havana Central , Tarallucci E Vino , Tisserie and Union Square Wines and Spirits.
Barry Callebaut, the Swiss chocolate firm, has signed on with NIZO a Dutch research firm to investigate the physico-chemical behaviour
of cocoa powders in water. This could lead to more stable chocolate drinks such as hot chocolate. Actor Colin Farrell used to entice the
spirit of Marilyn Monroe to come and visit him by placing Smarties, chocolate candies, under his pillow with a note. Portland, Oregon is
the home of yet another new chocolate shop called Cacao. They carry a selection of Pralus, some items from Fran's Chocolates and
some "unusual" items from Chuao Chocolatier. They also have a marble hot chocolate bar and serve a 72% "drinking chocolate".
Lafayette, Indiana is the home of Candyman Can Candies. Darrell Oliphant the owner first started making chocolates as gifts for friends.
In 2004 he launched his business and now carries more than 100 different chocolates in his shop. He handles the making of the
chocolates and Carol Dearing uses her artistic abilities to make the chocolates look great. The British firm Spooner Vicars displayed at
the IBA trade fair their new chocolate moulding equipment the vdE Chocolate Moulding machine. The designer is Hans van der Ent of Van
der Ent Machines. The machne is purportedly quieter than a conventional machine and is easier to clean than previous machines which
could help after the Cadbury salmonella scare. If you think you might find yourself in the vicinity of Lincoln, England on Saturday October
28th you might want to consider checking out the Chocolate Bar which is a charity event to raise money for The Meningitis Trust and the
NSPCC. The event will be held at Kelham Hall, Newark and will include a champagne reception and a chocolate fountain.
October 8, 2006 - M&Ms have launched a new and improved website that is worth taking a look at. Of course now that you can get
whatever you want printed on an M&M it is also an interesting site to investigate if you are looking for party favors.
October 6, 2006 - Arsene Wegner the coach of the Arsenal soccer team certainly wont be asked to coach any of the echocolatenyc
empire's various sporting clubs. When asked what has led to his ten year run of success he replied " I banned the players from stuffing
their faces with chocolate". Personally we'd rather lost the occasional sporting match than stop stuffing our faces with chocolate but that's
us. Kathy India the owner of Candy Bouquet in Aurora, Illinois will be presenting the History Of Chocolate at 2 p.m. Sunday at the David L.
Pierce Art & History Center, 20 E. Downer in downtown Aurora.
October 5, 2006 - Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Inc. said hotter weather led to an 8% decrease in second quarter profits from last
year. B.T. Mc Elrath has announced their Fall Collection. $10.00 will get you a five piece box of Harvest Moon Truffles. We haven't had a
chance to try them but when we read "Pumpkin and spice ganache centers are blanketed in dark chocolate" we're interested". Also in the
lineup are Maple Pecan Meltaways which are Maple Meltaways covered in Dark Chocolate and then sprinkled with Pecan pieces and
Maple Sugar. In the world of Milk Chocolate they've also released Salted Butter Caramel Butterflies which is burnt caramel and salted
butter in 38% Milk Chocolate. A fun article by Deborah Markus on Bella Online about mixing Peanut Butter and Chocolate and a recipe for
peanut butter-chocolate chunk muffins.
October 4, 2006 - The Almond Board of California has commissioned the Almond Sensory Lexicon. The Lexicon which is the first effort to
quantify texture, appearance, flavor and aroma of twenty different almonds. Such knowledge has been in circulation about peanuts for
years but this is the first time it has been done for almonds. This should help those who hope to use almonds as ingredients in cooking,
chocolate covered, etc consistently select the same almonds for use. Gladstone, Canada - Western Toronto - is the home of the
Cadbury's Adam's factory. The factory opened in 1904 , under the ownership of William Neilson as a two story attachment to his house. In
1906 they started chocolate production before that they were an ice cream facility which of course makes this year their 100th Anniversary
in the candy business. By 1919 they were producing a staggering 5.5 million tons of chocolate a year. The Crispy Crunch Bar came along
in 1930 and was the brainchild of Harold Oswin , a worker at the factory who received five big dollars as the winner of an employee contest.
The company was purchased in 1996 by Cadbury and is still making the Crispy Crunch Bar today. Chocolate World the Belgian concern
that manufactures polycarbonate injection moulds for chocolate had its newer moulds on display at the recent IBA Trade Fair in Germany.
The basic Heart Shaped mould is still number 1and is displayed alongside ducks and bear moulds. If you happen to be in Baltimore ,
Maryland this weekend you might want to take a look at the Lexington Market - Eutaw and Greene Streets for the 24th Annual Chocolate
Festival. You can sample chocolate from some of Baltimore's finest chocolatiers. The Belgian firm Belcolade a subsidiary of Puratos has
introduced a new line "Origins" of sourced chocolate. Belcolade's five types of chocolate, hail from Peru, Papua New Guinea, Venezuela,
Ecuador and Costa Rica, and will be available for manufacturers to use in fillings, moulds and injections.
October 3, 2006 - Lake Champlain Chocolates has announced their plans for Valentine's Day 2007. They have a variety of sizes of heart
shaped boxes, anywhere from 6 to 22 pieces. They also have heart shaped chocolates, Valentine Conversation Squares, Hearts Bags,
Heart Pops, and Raspberry Cream Hearts. There is also a five piece Valentine's Truffles Box and well you be the judge. Take a look at
their website. Here in New York City we frequently run across Lake Champlain's bars and have always found them to be tasty and high
quality so I would imagine their Valentine's Day offerings will be a well regarded gift. From San Francisco comes the Fall Collection of
Joseph Schmidt and it looks like a winner with a creative flair. Here are some of the Fall flavors that are available. Milk chocolate truffles
with sweet pear or toffee ganache. We look forward to checking out the sweet pear at some point and we have always felt pear has been
under utilized by chocolatiers. A Dark Chocolate truffle flavored with apricot brandy. Pumpkin shaped truffles filled with pumpkin spice
nougat a must try. Of course there's a Halloween item, A Jack O' Lantern Gift Box and a host of returning favorites. When you get a chance
take a look at their website. In the United Kingdom talks are under way between the health department, the British Retail Consortium
(BRC) and the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) to find ways to combat obesity. What they are hoping to do is help promote the
sales of fruits at the expense of "sweets". The discussions involve forcing stores to devote display space that previously went to chocolate
and other sweets to fruits and nuts. All we can say is WOW to the commitment M&Ms has made to eradicating breast cancer through its
partnership with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. We recently ran here in New York, a 5K run, to help raise money for the
Foundation and now we see Mars Inc. parent company of M&Ms has joined the Million Dollar Council, raising at least a million and helping
to spread information about breast cancer. Also through the months of October and November you will be able to buy special packs filled
with pink M&Ms with some of the proceeds going directly to help fight breast cancer. You can also check out BrightIdeas.Com for a cool
pink ribbon cupcake recipe using the M&Ms. Bright Ideas is a neat site to check out if you have kids as they have lots of great ideas for fun
activities and recipes. Pan Sino International has announced plans to build Singapore’s largest cocoa processing plant at the Jurong
Industrial Estate. They hope the plant will be able have a capacity of 20,160 tons of cocoa butter and cocoa powder on their first processing
line. The beans will be processed into cocoa powder, cocoa butter and cocoa cake and will be available for export.
October 2, 2006 - San Isidro, Davao del Norte, The Philippines is home to the local drink “sikwate.” The drink is a hot , syrupy , chocolate
concoction that is considered by many to be an aphrodisiac. The drink is brewed from tablea which is a semi - processed dark chocolate
made from roasted cocoa beans. The whole town seems to be involved in the small scale cultivation of cocoa beans, for the most part the
men farm them and the women roast them up. Even though most of the tablea is being consumed locally the town's residents are hoping
to eventually export some of their product to the outside world. Somerville, Massachusetts was the site of "What The Fluff" a festival
devoted to Fluffernutter which was invented in 1917 by one of the town's residents Archibald Query. Visitors to the Festival were treated to
a cooking contest and a science fair among other activities. The Flufferettes, a group of women, performed the Brenda Lee song
"Marshmallow World". First Prize in the cooking contest was a years supply of Fluffernutter and a tour of the factory in nearby Lynn,
Massachusetts. Mira Savich of Chicago, Illinois has been making chocolate since 1964. In April of that year she started working for
Gayety's Chocolates and Ice Cream Co. When they left Chicago for Lansing, Indiana she followed along and now spends her days happily
dipping and pouring chocolate into molds. Also in Chicago World's Finest Chocolate has named former vice president of finance at Follet
Corp. Michael S. Broz as chief financial officer and head of information technology. Scientists may have discovered a new way to test dark
chocolate for the presence of peanuts. Currently the way to test for peanuts has been the ELISA test and because of the presence of tannin
it is quite possible to get a false reading making it inadvisable for those with peanut allergies to indulge in dark chocolate.
| October 2006 News |
| Any comments or suggestions, contact us and let us know what you're thinking. |
