In February 2025, I attended Chocoa in Amsterdam. I scraped together some of my savings and purchased an Academy ticket. I booked a return train trip, asked Tessa (my fellow cacao enthusiast) if we could share accommodation, and headed to Amsterdam with a notebook, an open mind, and a lot of curiosity.

Why was I there?
Why go there for the week and not just enjoy the chocolate festival weekend? That’s a fair question, as I am not a cacao farmer, nor a chocolate maker. I don’t work in the cocoa supply chain. As a matter of fact, my job couldn’t be further removed from the world of chocolate.

I see myself as a cacao enthusiast, a chocolate aficionado who genuinely loves fine, surprising flavours. At the same time, I increasingly find myself in a position where I can act as an advocate (an amateur ambassador, if you will) by sharing knowledge and context with the people around me.

The more I learn about cacao, the harder it becomes to unknow certain things. Chocolate is joyful, comforting, and delicious, but it is also rooted in a world that can be harsh and is often unfair. If we want to improve that world, or at the very least respect it, understanding it is essential. That is why I wanted to go. I wanted to listen, learn and understand how the choices we make (as consumers, retailers, and makers) ripple through the cacao value chain.

What stayed with me
Chocoa is often shown online through beautiful photos of smiling people, sacks of cacao beans and shiny chocolate bars. And yes, those are all there. But for me, Chocoa 2025 was much more about what was said than what was photographed. I found myself deeply moved and inspired. I was more drawn to the presentation slides, speaker notes, and the stories behind the chocolate than to the social media visuals.I found the experience eye-opening and deeply inspiring. I listened to real stories: stories of struggle, resilience, and progress. Told by farmers, cooperatives, retailers, and chocolate makers themselves. Not polished marketing narratives, but lived realities. Stories about climate pressure, price volatility, long-term relationships, and small but meaningful victories.

The Academy version of the ticket gave me access to a few things:

The Trade Fair
The Trade Fair is the heart of Chocoa, where cacao producers, cooperatives, traders, chocolate makers, and retailers all come together. This is where business happens: conversations about sourcing, quality, pricing, and long-term relationships are established. For me, this space was especially interesting because it made the cacao supply chain tangible. You’re not just hearing about cacao, but meeting the people behind it. It’s a place where transparency, traceability, and collaboration are discussed openly. I learned a lot and met a lot of amazing people.

European Markets Academy
The European Markets Academy focuses on how cacao and chocolate move through the European markets. Topics include regulation, market access, consumer expectations, sustainability standards, and economic realities. I learned how complex the journey from cacao farm to chocolate bar really is. It highlighted how decisions made far away from the farm (by retailers, policymakers, and consumers) have very real consequences. It gave me an understanding and appreciation of the frustration and struggles of cocoa farmers. I was also shocked to see heaps of poor quality cacao in the Amsterdam harbour and how this bulk cacao is transported.

Chocolate Makers’ Forum
The Chocolate Makers’ Forum brings together craft and bean-to-bar chocolate makers to share their experiences. Here, the focus is on practice: sourcing cacao, fermentation choices, roasting profiles, flavour development, and the challenges of small-scale production. Makers talked honestly about what works, what doesn’t, and what they’re still figuring out. It offered a rare glimpse into the realities behind the bars we enjoy.

The Masterclasses
New in 2025 were the masterclasses. They were in-depth sessions led by experts from different parts of the coffee, cacao and chocolate world. I’ve had an amazing chocolate and coffee pairing, the best chocolate gelato I’ve ever tasted, and learned about chocolate in cocktails. It inspired me and from the later I even started some homebrew experiments with cacao-washed rum and cocoa-infused vodka.

What will be next
I left Chocoa feeling inspired, but also humbled. There are no simple solutions. No single “right” way. But there are better questions to ask, and more informed choices to make. There is no way I can share all I learned here, but you will see posts appear with time.

One of the things that rolled from it, was my desire to share and advocate more about this wonderful world, hidden for many regular consumers. I also wish to engage the science that takes place, as I saw way too little of that. This is also what inspired me to start “the science of chocolate“.