The industry is being shaped by unprecedented volatility, he says.

We reached out to Alex Whitmore, founder and CEO of Taza Chocolate, to learn more. The company has spent the last 20 years building a business around a transparent, Direct Trade sourcing model, it says. In addition, Taza was the first U.S. chocolate company to achieve third-party certified Direct Trade cacao and the first to publicly disclose exactly what it pays cacao farmers each year through annual transparency reports, offering longitudinal data across two decades of operation.

The Specialty Food Association (SFA) is ushering in a new era with the debut of Winter FancyFaire, replacing the long-standing Winter Fancy Food Show.

The global chocolate industry faces significant challenges due to climate-induced cocoa shortages.