Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival: Cacao, Farming, & Flavor in the Heartland

The inaugural Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival will take place Friday-Saturday, November 22-23 in the small town of Rushville, Indiana. This is a really unique event in the world of craft chocolate. Most of our festivals are in big cities on the coasts—New York, Seattle, San Francisco—but craft chocolate is all about cacao, the farms where it’s grown, and the farmers and farm workers who grow it, so where better to hold a celebration of chocolate than a farming community in America’s heartland? 

Rushville is a small town about an hour southeast of Indianapolis, and the town leaders are eager to introduce their downtown to the world and vice versa. During their annual Christmas on Main event on the weekend before Thanksgiving, the town will welcome a craft chocolate festival that will bring bean to bar makers, chocolatiers, cacao farmers, and educators together to celebrate all things craft chocolate.

This festival is the brainchild of Dustin Cornett, the chocolate maker who owns Chocolat Cafe. He’s also the creator of the Craft Chocolat Challenge, an internationally-recognized competition for bean to bar chocolate makers. The event is being hosted and supported by the great folks at Heart of Rushville.

In today's episode we talk with Barb Genuario, whom many of us know on Instagram as @chocochaser. Barb is an educator and writer and the co-founder of the D.C. Chocolate Society. For many years, she was an assistant chocolate maker at Harper McCaw before they closed, and she is one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders for craft chocolate. Barb is one of the organizers of the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival, and I talked with her recently to get the details for the event and learn the unique vision behind this festival.

We also hear from Leila Carvajal Erker, CEO of Cocoa Supply. Cocoa Supply is the title sponsor of the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival, and I reached out to Leila to ask what has her excited about the festival. Leila has been on the Bean to Barstool podcast several times in the past, once to talk about the background of her company and their focus on providing excellent cacao nibs for craft breweries, and once to talk specifically about the cacao fruit pulp products they’ve developed for brewers and other beverage makers.

Below are the confirmed vendors and talks at the festival. More details can be found on the festival website. Tickets can be purchased here.

Vendors:

Cacaitos—Colombian farmer & chocolate maker
Chocolat Café—Chocolate maker & chocolatier
Chocs ‘N Boxes—Philippine farmer, chocolate maker, & chocolatier
CocoaSupply—Educational booth/hands-on, sponsor
Cocoatown—Educational/demo
Chocolate Thunder—Chocolate maker
Dwaar—Chocolate maker
Encore—Chocolate maker
Fusion Epicure—Healthy snacks made with bean-to-bar chocolate
Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund—Educational
Fjorden Sjokolade—Chocolate maker
Lohcally Aristan Chocolates—Chocolatier
Lumineux Chocolate—Chocolate maker
Mademoiselle Miel—Beekeeper, honey chocolate & bon-bons maker
Maverick—Chocolate maker & chocolatier
Mayan Harvest—Honduran chocolate maker
Otis—Liberian Farmer
Peace on Fifth—Educational
Sweet Bean—Chocolatier, bean to bar chocolate
Yellow Bird—Chocolate maker & chocolatier
Yojoa—Honduran farm to bar chocolate maker
Embers Chocolate—Chocolate maker
Bean to Barstool (David Nilsen)—Educational, books
Small Batch Education (Nettie Attkison)—Children's books & education

Speakers:

Clay Gordon, The Chocolate Life
—Opening Ceremony
—Chocolate 101 – Ask An Expert Anything

David Nilsen, Bean to Barstool
—From Bean to Barstool and Back: Collaboration and Commonality Between Chocolate, Beer, and Spirits
Craft chocolate has much in common with artisan beverage segments like craft beer and small batch spirits, and we're seeing more and more collaborations between the two. Chocolate makers, brewers, distillers and other beverage alcohol producers are all looking for ways to court new customers and explore new flavors, and collaboration provides a way to use unique ingredients while reaching a new group of fans.

David will explore what craft chocolate makers have in common with craft brewers and other beverage makers, and how these artisans are working together in exciting (and delicious) ways. While David will be available to answer in-depth questions about many of these collaborations and processes, the tone of the talk will be fun and conversational, helping chocolate fans of all knowledge levels find new bars to get excited about.

—Beer and Chocolate Pairing
Join writer and educator David Nilsen for a guided pairing of 4 excellent courses of beer and chocolate. David will talk about the ingredients and processes behind each beer and chocolate, and walk attendees through a full sensory tasting of each pairing. You'll have the chance to ask questions about the beers, chocolate, and pairing principles involved during this fun and educational event.

London Coe, Peace on Fifth
—Why You Should Fall in Love with Chocolate

Gerry Dean, Chocs 'N Boxes
—Naturally Crafted: From Organic Cacao Farming in the Philippines to Award-Winning Chocolate in Chicago

Micheal King, Encore Coffee & Chocolate
—TBD

César Aguilar, Cacaitos
—Farm to You, Taste Fine Cacao from Colombia

Bassman Paulus, Fusion Epicure
—Building a Healthier Bite: A Midwest Entrepreneur's Path to Award-Winning Snacks

Denise Steele, Lohcally Artisan Chocolates
—Edible Masterpieces: Creating Hand-painted Truffle Art

Anne Zaczek, Heirloom Cacao Preservation
—Indiana’s Farmers and Heirloom Cacao: Navigating Global Challenges and Local Solutions

Join Anne Zaczek, Executive Director of the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund to explore their global efforts to preserve Heirloom cacao varieties and draw connections to the farming community in Indiana. It will highlight the unique challenges faced by Heirloom cacao farmers around the world, such as climate change, market access, and sustainability, while emphasizing the opportunities for preservation and quality enhancement.  Heirloom cacao farmers across the tropics are challenged with similar trials and barriers to entry that we experience here in the U.S.

Susan Brown, Mademoiselle Miel
—Food Wisdom: Honey Bees, Ancestors and Art

Elmer Pineada, Yojoa Chocolates
—TBD

Leila Carvajal Erker, CocoaSupply 
—From Soil to Soul: Bridging Midwest Farmers with Cocoa Communities Worldwide

Connor Tierney, Chocolate Thunder
—Taste the World with Chocolate Thunder

Nettie Attkison, Small Batch Education
—A Brief and Edible History of Chocolate
—Nettie will also be doing several book readings throughout the day in the Children's Activity Center.

Tandy Peterson, Embers Chocolate
—TBD

The music for Bean to Barstool is by indie folk musician Anna ps. You can find out more about Anna’s music in the show notes or at her website annapsmusic.com, where you can also get in touch to book her to play at your brewery or other establishment.