EVENT
A Day of Chocolate
Date 13 November 2026
Time 10:00 - 17:00
Location Sorby Room, Wager Building, Whiteknights Campus
Event Information
A Day of Chocolate will present exciting, new research on cocoa and chocolate from different disciplines, Indigenous community members with a long chocolate making tradition, and innovative UK and Latin American fine chocolate makers.
Beginning at 10:00, researchers from the sciences, agriculture, humanities, and social sciences at the University of Reading, University of Cambridge, and University of Durham will give 20-minute presentations. Topics will include the making of Reading's Centenary Bar, chocolate in London, 1650-1720, micro-botanical and ancient DNA clues about cocoa and chocolate archaeology, Net-Zero goals on African cocoa farms, cocoa diseases in farms on Trinidad, and climate change and cocoa's future.
After a break from 13:00-14:00, a panel discussion on sustainability in cocoa and chocolate will be moderated by Katie Sampeck (Archaeology) and Herbert Erquicia (Technological University of El Salvador). Panelists include Dara Adamolekun (Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research); Amanda Berlan (University of Leicester); Nelson Castro Arevalo (Eco Cacao and la Comunidad de Mesas Altares Mayores de Padre Eterno y María Asunción of Izalco, El Salvador); Andrew Daymond (International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, Crop Science); Jens Knoop (Knoops); Carla Martin (Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research; Harvard University); Michael Odijie (University of Oxford); and Tom Sizmur (Geography & Environmental Science)
From 15:00-16:00, meet the makers. This will be a chance to chat casually with innovative fine and craft chocolate makers and sample their products. Participants include Eco Cacao; Islands Chocolate, Pump Street Chocolate, and Nicola's Chocolate.
Specialty chocolate today will be the topic of a panel from 16:00-17:00 panel discussion, moderated by Jose Lopez Ganem (Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research; University of Boston). The ICCR has recently completed an industry survey that will inform this discussion. The panel discussion will bring together makers, traders and researchers for an open conversation about specialty chocolate and the research connected to it. Contributors include Joanna Brennan and Millie Simmonds (Pump Street Chocolate), Nelson Castro (Eco Cacao), Jens Knoop (Knoops), Jonas Rosales (Islands Chocolate), and Nicola Knight (Nicola’s Chocolate).
For the detailed schedule, please visit https://www.chocolateinstitute.org/university-of-reading-day-of-chocolate
Beginning at 10:00, researchers from the sciences, agriculture, humanities, and social sciences at the University of Reading, University of Cambridge, and University of Durham will give 20-minute presentations. Topics will include the making of Reading's Centenary Bar, chocolate in London, 1650-1720, micro-botanical and ancient DNA clues about cocoa and chocolate archaeology, Net-Zero goals on African cocoa farms, cocoa diseases in farms on Trinidad, and climate change and cocoa's future.
After a break from 13:00-14:00, a panel discussion on sustainability in cocoa and chocolate will be moderated by Katie Sampeck (Archaeology) and Herbert Erquicia (Technological University of El Salvador). Panelists include Dara Adamolekun (Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research); Amanda Berlan (University of Leicester); Nelson Castro Arevalo (Eco Cacao and la Comunidad de Mesas Altares Mayores de Padre Eterno y María Asunción of Izalco, El Salvador); Andrew Daymond (International Cocoa Quarantine Centre, Crop Science); Jens Knoop (Knoops); Carla Martin (Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research; Harvard University); Michael Odijie (University of Oxford); and Tom Sizmur (Geography & Environmental Science)
From 15:00-16:00, meet the makers. This will be a chance to chat casually with innovative fine and craft chocolate makers and sample their products. Participants include Eco Cacao; Islands Chocolate, Pump Street Chocolate, and Nicola's Chocolate.
Specialty chocolate today will be the topic of a panel from 16:00-17:00 panel discussion, moderated by Jose Lopez Ganem (Institute for Cacao and Chocolate Research; University of Boston). The ICCR has recently completed an industry survey that will inform this discussion. The panel discussion will bring together makers, traders and researchers for an open conversation about specialty chocolate and the research connected to it. Contributors include Joanna Brennan and Millie Simmonds (Pump Street Chocolate), Nelson Castro (Eco Cacao), Jens Knoop (Knoops), Jonas Rosales (Islands Chocolate), and Nicola Knight (Nicola’s Chocolate).
For the detailed schedule, please visit https://www.chocolateinstitute.org/university-of-reading-day-of-chocolate
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