The Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA) has launched the Fine Chocolate Glossary, having spent over a year of cross-continental teamwork and collaboration with more than 30 experts over the world.
The Glossary will serve as a solution to a common challenge to those who work in cocoa or chocolate, or is even on a journey of learning about the sector: terms meaning different things when relating to fine chocolate.
This could relate to anything from cocoa agroforestry to the fine chocolate value chain, the FCIA said, but it would be difficult to know what is meant when saying ‘agroforestry’ or ‘value chain’.
At launch, the Glossary includes more than 250 terms – with about 14% having completed entries. The team expects to bring the entry completion rate to about 25% by the end of April. Entries will continue to be authored by invited experts and will be subject to ongoing review and revision by FCIA members and external stakeholders.
Dr Kristy Leissle, the Glossary’s main architect and author of the book Cocoa, says that she uses fine chocolate terminology all the time to communicate effectively, and it solves a challenge in that communication by giving everyone a shared reference for what those terms mean.
Every Glossary entry is authored by an expert in their field and gives an example to illustrate how the term is used in the real world. Contributors’ experience spans North America, Central America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Africa and Asia, with expertise running deep in both cocoa and chocolate.
FCIA Board President Lauren Adler has said she finds herself often discussing chocolate concepts with colleagues using the same terms but meaning the different things – by creating standard definitions for chocolate terms and concepts, the Glossary marks an exciting development for those wanting to have conversations around key issues impacting fine chocolate.
“As the Glossary continues to grow, we look forward to including an ever-more diverse set of voices, and experts from every corner of the fine chocolate ecosystem,” the FCIA said.
The Glossary was created in partnership with TSIRO and MOCCA.
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