Crafting Sustainability in the World of Chocolate Making
A small business named Venture Chocolate and Wine Co. emerged as an establihment of sustainability and ethical sourcing. The chocolate industry is often criticized for unsustainable practices and concerns about human welfare, but Venture is trying to break that mold.
As the door swung open, a bell softly jingled, announcing the arrival of a new visitor to the small, cozy business space. The warm aroma of freshly brewed coffee and sweet chocolate enveloped the air, creating an inviting atmosphere. In the corner of the room, bathed in the soft glow of a lamp, a woman diligently worked on her computer. Her focused expression hinted at a depth of concentration as she tapped away at the keyboard, her fingers dancing with familiarity. A steaming cup of coffee sat beside her, emitting wisps of warmth. She paused her typing, and cradled the steaming cup of coffee in her hands. As she sipped, a subtle smile played on her lips, and her eyes sparkled with a newfound energy.
“I’d rather support one of my local businesses than go to a huge chain.”
Talia Villarosa is a frequent guest at Venture Chocolate and Wine Co. She said she loves to work on her assignments and try new seasonal flavors. “Plus it always smells like chocolate in here and you can’t beat that,” Villarosa said.
Talia Villarosa composes an email on her computer on the top floor of Venture Chocolate and Wine Co. in Boone, N.C., on Oct. 25, 2023.
To the left, behind the polished counter of the shop, a barista is engaged in the process of brewing coffee. Clad in a crisp apron, the worker exhibits a rhythmic choreography of motions. A symphony of clinks and clatters come from the espresso machine, harmonizing with the soft murmur of patrons engaged in quiet conversations. The barista's hands, well-practiced and precise, measure coffee grounds into the portafilter. The grinder hums, releasing an earthy perfume that mingles with the heady aroma of freshly roasted beans and chocolate. With a twist, the portafilter is locked into place, and the machine roars to life, extracting a velvety stream of espresso into a waiting cup. Meanwhile, the barista froths milk, crafting clouds of foam on top of the coffee.
"We don’t use anything that’s mass-produced other than a few ingredients in the chocolate, it’s made here and the entire process is done here."
Georgia Dixon is a journalism student at Appalachian State and a barista at Venture. She mainly acts as barista for the business, but sometimes dips chocolate. Her favorite chocolates, the caramels, are also the one’s she dips most often. The caramel is made at a local farm called Land of Milk & Honey. “I feel like the locality makes the flavors more pronounced,” Dixon said.
Georgia Dixon, barista at Venture, prepares the espresso machine as she makes a mocha on Oct. 25, 2023.
What does supporting local mean?
Nurturing locally owned businesses that use local resources sustainably, employ local workers at decent wages and serve primarily local consumers. It means becoming more self-sufficient and less dependent on imports.
Local businesses play a crucial role in communities, contributing to economic development. These enterprises, ranging from small shops to service providers, often create job opportunities and support local economies. Additionally, they contribute to the distinct character of neighborhoods by offering unique products and services that reflect the community's preferences and values. Supporting local businesses can have a direct impact on the well-being of the community, helping to sustain livelihoods and maintain a vibrant local economy.
However, ethical sourcing changes the way you define local.
How do local businesses remain true to promoting local when local means thousands of miles away?
The chocolate industry as a whole is recognized for unsustainable production practices as well as ethical human welfare concerns, with millions of smallholder farmers living under the poverty line, without access to alternative income strategies.
The craft chocolate industry is playing a pivotal role in steering the entire chocolate sector towards more ethical sourcing practices, enhanced environmental sustainability in production, and the creation and promotion of high-quality products.
"They’re [bigger chocolate companies] buying tons of beans at the lowest possible price,"
-Jeshua Jolly, head chocolatier
Venture gets their beans from Uncommon Cacao, a company devoted to providing better wages and working conditions for cacao farmers. They emphasize the importance of quality, sustainability, and ethical practices.
"What we’re trying to do is kind of give the farmer a better deal on their crop to help them with their living wages."
Jolly, part owner, and Josiah Davis, owner, were looking into chocolate and realized there were similarities between it and coffee roasting. They loved the idea of starting from the bean with chocolate, just like with coffee. After refining the idea, they set up all of the equipment in Jeshua's basement and started experimenting from there. Through experimentation and online classes with Ecol Chocolat, Jeshua learned the art of chocolate and became the head chocolatier for the growing company.
Crafting Sweet Sustainability: Behind the Scenes of Ethical Chocolate Making
Witness the beginning of Venture's chocolate journey, starting from ethically sourced cacao beans. Discover how sustainable farming practices not only enhance the quality of chocolate but also contribute to the community in local businesses.
Craft chocolate, according to the Craft Chocolate Makers of America (CCMA), represented the small-scale production of superior chocolate products using fine flavor or specialty cacao beans.
Over the past two decades, the craft chocolate industry experienced exponential growth, approximately double that of commodity cacao, according to industry experts. This growth wasn't just about making chocolate; it was about making a positive impact on farmer welfare, the environment, and the overall quality of chocolate products.
In a study conducted with over 800 craft chocolate makers chocolate makers expressed their priorities when purchasing specialty cacao beans, with 29% emphasizing ethical sourcing.
This study revealed that the majority were small businesses, with 75% employing less than 10 people. These businesses operated with distinct sustainability interests, often seeking specialty cacao grown in diverse agroforestry systems to address social and environmental needs.
Many companies have to rely on the middle-man when sourcing their chocolate.
How do you ensure they remain sustainable?
Lasting damage due to unsustainable development is detrimental to future agricultural production opportunities or advancements of the predominantly smallholder farmers.
Many commodity cacao farmers live below the poverty line and a shrinking share of revenue (from 16% of marketed products in 1980 to 6-7% in 2013), with some estimates as low as three and five percent.
“We launched our work in 2016, and what pushed us to do that was that, while it was clear there were other organizations in the fine cacao and chocolate space, none of them had the explicit mission to try to reduce information inequality.”
-Carla Martin, executive director and board member of Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute.
Martin is trained as a social anthropologist and spent several years traveling and working with cacao producers. She realized there is a lot of information out there, but it never makes its way to us.
“It might be things like maybe they have a language barrier, where the majority of information is printed in English and they speak another language."
She said one of the greatest challenges is how we get a lot of this information that already exists, and make it available to people, when it’s technically under lock and key by private interests.
“We look at different companies and see what they’re doing. The idea is that by doing this kind of ethical sourcing, the economic exchange between two businesses, the cacao producer being one business and the chocolate company being the other, is a more equitable one.”
(Above) Leilani Kathe, chocolatier at Venture Chocolate and Wine Co., stirs a mixture of chocolate and butter, creating the ganache that goes into bonbon molds on Nov. 16, 2023.
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The journey at Venture Chocolate and Wine Co. wasn't just about making chocolate; it was a story of collaboration, passion, and a commitment to change the narrative of the chocolate industry. As the craft chocolate industry continues to grow, it brings with it the promise of a more sustainable and ethical future for chocolate lovers worldwide.
