Chocoa

Where the Future of Cacao Is Debated

Amsterdam, Netherland 2026

Chocoa is an international event that brings together cacao producers, chocolate makers, researchers, and buyers from around the world — a gathering where the future of the cacao industry, sustainability, and new possibilities for chocolate are openly discussed.

This year, Cacaogoto participated not only with a booth, but also as a speaker in a session themed "Technology & Innovation in Chocolate," and led a hands-on workshop. Each context — the talk, the workshop, the booth — became a distinct way of sharing the world of Cacaogoto.

Questioning the Assumption That Chocolate Melts

At the Chocoa Chocolate Makers Forum, I spoke in a session on "Technology and Innovation in Chocolate."

My subject was Kessho Cacao — Structure-Driven Chocolate.

In warm climates, chocolate is often ruled out before it's even tasted, simply because it melts. And when it loses its form, it loses something else too: the delicate aromas that make fine cacao worth seeking out. The floral notes, the fruit, the complexity born from fermentation — these qualities cannot reach every place.

The answer came from Japanese wagashi culture. There are confections that release their fragrance not through melting, but through the act of chewing. Not melting does not mean lacking flavor.

From that insight came Kessho Cacao — now patent-pending. It holds its form even at around 48°C, while still delivering the full aroma of the cacao.

"Chocolate melts" is not a law of nature. It is one structural choice among many. Change the structure, and the texture changes. Change the texture, and the perception of aroma shifts. And with that, the very definition of chocolate expands.

This is not simply a new technique. It is an attempt to widen what cacao can become. That question was what I brought to an audience of the world's specialists.

Cacao Meets Japan Workshop

During the event, we also held a Cacao Meets Japan workshop — an invitation to experience cacao not only through taste, but through aroma, culture, and presence.

Drawing from the spirit of Japanese tea ceremony — ichigo ichie, ma, omotenashi — we offered wagashi made with cacao pulp and husk, and a bowl of Cacao Ippuku whisked with a chasen. A space where different cultures met.

For the world's cacao specialists and enthusiasts, it was a moment where Japanese sensibility and cacao came together in a way that words alone could not convey. The workshop filled to more than twice its planned capacity. Those who couldn't get in came to our booth afterward, just to tell us they hadn't made it inside.

Booth

At the venue, Cacao Goto also presented its work at a dedicated booth.

On display and for sale: Kessho Cacao (three single-origin varieties), Kingyoku — wagashi made with cacao pulp and husk — Karatsu-yaki cacao bowls glazed with cacao husk, and "Nanafuku" — a set of seven single-origin, 100% cacao chocolates for drinking. A lineup where Japanese materiality and cacao intertwine.

The response exceeded every expectation, perhaps in part because of the talk. All confections sold out on the first day. Interest in Japan, curiosity sparked by the session, the experience of the workshop — each thread led people to the booth. Every moment seemed to flow into the next.

What Chocoa Made Visible

Chocoa gathers the people at the very frontier of the cacao world, in real time.

This year included the Cacao of Excellence awards — honoring producers who have dedicated themselves to exceptional cacao — and for the first time, an auction of those beans. We witnessed the moment when a producer's work received both a name and a price on an international stage.

We also found that traceability through technology was already far more advanced than expected, across a surprising number of companies. The effort to make the journey from origin to consumer transparent is quietly, steadily spreading.

Bringing Kessho Cacao to that room — as a Japanese brand, introducing something new to the world — carried real weight. It was also a place where we could feel directly what impression a Japanese perspective and interpretation makes, and what it sets in motion.

For Cacaogoto, Chocoa is one of the essential stages for connecting our work to the world.

And that connection is only beginning to grow.