Elle Coco - Chocolate Events

16/10/2025

The latest of my adventures is now live on The Adventures of Elle Coco - link below.
What a treat it was spending time with and Lilli in Pinalum, on the island of Malekula in Vanuatu. Roy works closely with Oli of , and and I were lucky to get out there for a few days to lend a hand with a small harvest they needed.
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They grow a beautiful strain of Amelonado here that creates delightfully fine flavour beans. It was an honour to walk through the cacao farm, hunt for pods and spend time with these two beautiful people, learning about their story of chocolate and cacao.
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It was quite an exciting journey getting back to Port Vila from Malekula Island, and we even joined the beans from a previous harvest on their journey. An inspiring and enlightening adventure, I hope you enjoy the read.
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https://theadventuresofellecoco.com/2025/10/16/peace-and-chocolate-in-pimalum/

14/10/2025

Aah yes, that London Chocolate Week in 2012 while running the and chocolate stall, I held my first ever real fresh cacao pod.

It's safe to say I really could feel the magic in that ruby red orb, and man it tasted so good. I'd already been working in the chocolate industry for a couple of years by this point, but it's safe to day that on touching the cold, rugged flesh of the pod I felt an even deeper connection to cacao than I had before.

Little did I know at that point that this magic substance would take me around the world and connect me with some of the most amazing and inspiring people.

Chocolate and cacao, and more specifically the craft scene, is more than just a food source, it's a community of like-minded souls striving to make the world more tasty and more enjoyable through making top quality chocolate.

23/09/2025

My latest article is now live, and oh how much fun we had for this one!! https://theadventuresofellecoco.com/category/south-pacific/vanuatu/

After seven years living in New Zealand it was high time I visited some of the beautiful neighbouring Pacific island nations, famous for snorkelling and diving, surfing, relaxation, and more recently, cacao. Being early August it was still technically the middle of winter for New Zealand, so what better way to shake off the winter blues than head to Vanuatu for two weeks? On this beautiful Pacific archipelago we were lucky enough to meet up with a good friend of mine, Olivier Fernandez of Gaston Chocolate. He greets us with open arms at Port Vila airport, his cheeky grin and sparkling blue eyes a welcome sight after a surprisingly long trip from New Zealand.

Olivier’s journey into chocolate has all the hallmarks of true adventure; love, quests, far off mystical lands, quick wit, entrepreneurial spirit, resilience in the face of significant weather events and natural disasters, and an unwavering commitment to and passion for the community he works with.

I have to say it was both an honour and a privilege to spend time with Oli and his business partner Roy to experience just a little bit of the magic they create over on Vanuatu. He's humble in citing those who have inspired him the most from the industry and , and it's clear to see he is always striving to improve even more, as you can see from the awards his bars have won and the growing list of makers using his beans , , , , , , , with more to come!

I highly suggest if you are a consumer then you get your hands on these bars as soon as you can, or the other makers I listed above who are using his beans, and if you are a maker then I highly recommend his beans to add to your origin collection.

18/09/2025

Can't believe it's a month since Sam & I were adventuring in Vanuatu, exploring the origin for the bars some of our amazing chocolate makers produce here in New Zealand.

So much fun making more friends and sharing the . So many wonderful stories to tell, even got amongst it! 😍

First up will be the story of the truly inspiring mastermind behind , landing on the blog soon, watch this space! 🍫🌱

31/08/2025

Happy 101st Birthday, Zozobra! 🔥🧨👻

While all eyes are on Black Rock City in Nevada for Burning Man, many don't know about the lesser known festival that also includes burning the effigy of a man at around the same time, in a neighbouring state.

It's Zozobra in Santa Fe, New Mexico, formally pre-dating Burning Man in Nevada by over 60 years! Zozobra can also be credited as a direct influence for the inspiration of Burning Man, since one of the founders attended in the early 80s and the idea was born.

I was lucky enough to attend both these events during my time in New Mexico in 2007-08, and while Burning Man was fun, I definitely resonated with Zozobra more, possibly because of the historical, regional and cultural significance of the festival, as well as the artistic American avant-garde vibes that inspired its conception.

This weekend Zozobra marked it's 101st birthday!

You can read more about it here https://theadventuresofellecoco.com/2025/08/31/happy-101st-birthday-zozobra-old-man-gloom-and-the-fire-spirit-of-santa-fe/.

26/08/2025

Aaah, ...has to be one of my all time favourite festivals in the UK and I miss it so much!

It was just this past weekend - marking the end of the late August Bank Holiday. But it means so much more to so many people, so many different things.

Starting as an indoor festival back in the late 1950s to combat racial tensions and riots in the area, the celebration eventually took to the streets, added steel pan music and these days huge sound systems several stereo blocks tall! There is colour and music everywhere, and the food...don't get me even started on the food. It's all your favourite Caribbean foods you could ever dream of all in one raucous place!

Yes, some people hate this festival because it's noisy, a bit messy and in the past there have been pockets of violence, but there are also many happy revellers having a good old sing and dance at Europe's largest street party that has been running for decades.

Here's a selection of some of my favourite times over the 14 or so years I pretty much religiously attended Carnival before moving to NZ. Wearing policemen's hats (and riding their bikes), to dancing with my international friends, and taking my dad along one year (he even had a dance off with some in the dance troop and nearly ended up on one of the floats 🤣🕺🏿).

So glad this festival is still going, hope if you attended that you had an absolute blast and were reminded how much of a magical melting pot London really is! 🎪🎉🥳💃🏻🕺🏿

24/08/2025

An interesting and polarising week in the chocolate world.

shared fascinating evidence about the impact of individual microbiomes of cacao on flavour profiles. Which is exciting as this supports the importance of care and attention at all stages of the production line, from good soil management and farming practices, care of the trees, through to fermentation and drying.

There is so much care and effort that has gone into the cacao before it's even turned into a bar for people to savour and enjoy. A highlight of the week's chocolate review for sure, and you can hear Spencer of in the UK speaking all about it on BBC World , give it a listen.

And then...Cadbury reintroduced Bournville to the advertising circuit after 50 year hiatus. A great opportunity to share some nostalgic insights into Bournville's history (despite the fact Cadbury is now owned by ).

Instead...it was a textbook exercise in how to slag off your competition because you know you can't beat them. That competition being small craft chocolate makers who spend much time working directly with farmers, improving processes, conditions and pay throughout the supply chain. Ironic, given Cadbury's advertising page mentions the brands generosity 'glass and a half in all of us', and '...bringing us all together'.

Did , their chosen advertising agency, know anything about chocolate before launching an attempt to tear down an important part of it - craft, small batch, fine chocolate makers - that is fighting the good fight against bad chocolate?

Maybe forgot one of their core values "...united by their desire to challenge the bad habits of the industry." With this ad they have rewarded bad habits of the chocolate industry with clever marketing, and have pitched them against the true 'challenger' companies in the UK.

I hope this campaign generates further interest in craft bars, small batch makers, and encourages customers to seek out other bars, so they don't have to endure another bar of Bournville.

18/08/2025

Last month I had the pleasure of combining my two favourite things - chocolate, and figure skating, together in a short holiday.

I was in Christchurch to compete in my first ice figure skating competition, AND interview the mastermind behind the Outstanding Food Producer Awards winner - Nel Vincencio. A truly inspiring 100% vegan chocolatier

I caught up with him to hear all about what led him to chocolate!

It was a cold start in late July, leaving a wintery Wellington to head to an even more wintery Christchurch, having to scrape thick ice off the hire car on our arrival. But I was on a mission to in…

28/07/2025

Well, it's official: I successfully combined chocolate & figure skating together, twice in one weekend!
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This past weekend I was in Christchurch to interview the mastermind behind the award-winning ...and compete in my first ice figure skating competition at the .ice.skating.club !

But what's more, I skated to a track from the Wonka movie and came away with silver! Supported all the while by my absolute rock of a husband . Huge shout out to for making such an epic cut of my music, and my awesome skate fam at for all your encouragement and support!

For more skate spam you can follow along at .

Interview with Mind Your Temper dropping on the blog theadventuresofellecoco.com soon - watch this space!

23/07/2025

Remeniscing about the time we passed through Central America’s smallest and most densely populated country on our Long Way South! After our Honduran Interlude, we made it to the only country in the world named directly after Jesus Christ – ‘El Salvador’ translates to ‘The Saviour’ in English.

We didn’t actually fly into El Salvador though, contrary to the title of my latest blog post 'Fly to El Salvador', we just caught the ‘chicken bus’ over from Honduras. But ever since listening to London indie rock band Athlete’s song lyrics to the aptly named ‘El Salvador’ on my bus journeys to school all those years ago, humming along to the lyrics “Fly to El Salvador, I don’t know why and I don’t know what for…”, I’d always had an urge to go to the place, to find out what the “what for” in the song they were always singing about actually was. So we decided to see if we could find out.

https://theadventuresofellecoco.com/category/the-americas/el-salvador/

21/07/2025

During our sojourn through the Americas; leaving the kak’ik (turkey stew), Atol de Elote (corn and cacao drink), picbil shawls and active volcano hikes behind us in Guatemala; we dipped in to Honduras, for the ancient Mayan site of Copan Ruinas, beautiful ruby red macaw parrots, ‘pupusas’, and yes, a little bit of chocolate!.

After all these years I finally finished that blog post last night, you can read more at the link in my bio. We had an absolute blast, and I'd love to go back one day!

Who else has been to Honduras, or maybe you work with Honduran cacao beans?

https://theadventuresofellecoco.com/category/the-americas/honduras/

15/07/2025

15.07.2022 I said 'I Do' to my adventure buddy for life, at Hampton Court Palace! But we actually have 3 anniversary dates, because we had 3 weddings - thanks Covid!!

12 years together, 3 years married, in 2 different countries!!

We've been a long long way together, through the hard times and the good, I have to celebrate you baby, I have to praise you like I should...and I always will. ❤️✨💃🏻🕺🏿💒