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Ecole Chocolat in the News

Chocolate News

We welcome inquiries from the media about fine chocolate, Ecole Chocolat programs, and EC graduate success stories.

Media inquiries contact Pam Williams at
1-213-291-8309 US or 1-604-484-1872 Canada

As Seen In

How independent chocolatiers and chocolate makers are tackling COVID-19 - Candy Industry Magazine
Pam Williams discusses the challenges faced by the fine chocolate industry as they adapt their businesses to the challenges faced by COVID-19.

Chocolate Facts, Effects and History
Live Science explores chocolate facts and history, including how chocolate is made, types of chocolate and possible health benefits.

How to Become a Chocolatier - Food and Wine
Professionals in the fine chocolate industry share tips for people looking to become a chocolatier, including Ecole Chocolat grad Melanie Boudar.

Correction: Chocolate Not Going Extinct - Huffington Post
Experts in cacao and chocolate discuss dire warnings of cacao going extinct by 2050 in this article by Deborah Prinz, including Ecole Chocolat Founder Pam Williams

Ecole Chocolat's Founder Pam Williams featured on the Well Tempered Podcast
Well Tempered is a podcast that tells the story of women in the fine chocolate industry. It is hosted by Lauren Heineck of WKND Chocolate. In this episode, Pam shares stories and insights from her 35 years in the fine chocolate industry.

U.S. chocolate makers offering tastings and tours of production process - The Globe and Mail
As consumer interests in where their food comes from and how it is made continues to grow, chocolate makers are adding tours and tastings to their businesses.

Talking about fine chocolate on Good Morning America!
Pam is interviewed by Good Morning America's Becky Worley for her series Frugal Foodie as they discuss fine chocolate and tour the facility of Ecole Chocolat graduate Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco. A consumer taste test shows that consumer's palates are changing!

Ecole Chocolat Graduate takes top prize at the Academy of Chocolate Awards
Ottawa's Hummingbird Chocolate was awarded the prestigous "Golden Bean" for the best chocolate at the 2016 Academy of Chocolate Awards. The company was founded by Ecole Chocolat graduate Erica Gilmour and her husband Drew in 2011.

Ecole Chocolat's Founder Pam Williams featured in the Globe and Mail
As Easter approached and many people are buying chocolate, Pam was asked to comment on an article entitled "How to tell if your favourite Easter treats are 'real' chocolate". Let your wallet be your guide - chocolate made with higher quality cocoa beans will cost more, but it will also taste better!

Ecole Chocolat Graduate named in Dessert Professional Magazine's Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America
Ecole Chocolat Graduate Elaine Hsieh, co-founder of EH Chocolatier along with Catherine Sweeney, was named one of the Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America for 2016 by Dessert Professional Magazine!

You Can't Go Wrong With Chocolate on Valentine's
Valentine's is one day that's no sweat for gifting. . . a bottle of fine wine, a beautiful dinner and a box of exquisite chocolates will say all the right things when the intent is to give the best. Chocolatiers are all set for Valentine's Day! Here's how some of the top chocolatiers are celebrating: 'HERS' gift - THE HEART - 61% dark chocolate heart filled with an assortment of chocolates & confections from EC Graduates: Valenza Chocolatier and 'Pucker Up' Bonbons - 54% dark chocolate filled with coffee caramel from Veruca Chocolates.

Ecole Chocolat's Master Program in Italy
This one-week (six-night) experience is an opportunity to learn from the Italian master chocolatiers. The program combines intensive hands-on training at the ICAM Choco Scuola with travel to Milan and Turin to visit and learn from important Italian chocolatiers in their cioccolateria and laboratories. Also its a great time to open a fine chocolate business - find out why.

Saving the World's Finest-tasting Heirloom Chocolate from Extinction
Lovers of fine chocolate may be wondering if their favorite treat is on the brink of extinction, following reports that many third-world cacao farmers of rare chocolate strains are struggling to stay afloat. They have reason to worry, but they'll be heartened to hear of the passionate efforts now underway to save that tiny fraction - that five per cent - of the world's cacao forests that produce the finest-tasting chocolates.

Passion Transform a Hobby into a Thriving Business for These Chocolate-Loving Women
We're all crazy about chocolate, but women are just a little more likely to turn that passion into a business, says Ecole Chocolat Founder and Lead Instructor Pam Williams. A poll conducted earlier this year by the Bank of Montreal found that women who start their own business are looking to do what they love and to do it on their own terms.

Ecole Chocolat's Founder Pam Williams Featured in Countlan Magazine
Pam gives her take on chocolate tasting for Countlan's article entitled Tasting Chocolate: Matter of Opinion. Best advice: Don't taste too many samples at one time. Limit yourself to 4 or 6. Countlan is a digital magazine dedicated to exploring how people all over the world entertain at home.

Ecole Chocolat Celebrates 10th Anniversary Year
It's been 10 years since Ecole Chocolat, a professional chocolate arts school, first opened its cyber doors and a look back shows both the power and the reach of its online chocolate programs. The list of Ecole Chocolat's graduates includes many high-profile chocolatiers who have received national and international awards and been written up in major magazines and newspapers.

Ecole Chocolat Graduates among the Finalists for Good Food Awards 2013
A number of Ecole Chocolat Graduates were finalists in both the Chocolate and Confection categories of the Good Food Award,. The Good Food Awards celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced. The awards are meant to celebrate outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients.

Holiday Cheer Begins with Fine-Flavor Chocolate
Just in time for this gift-giving season, Pam Williams is giving consumers a reason to seek out fine-flavor chocolate rather than simply relying on mass-produced options. Her new book, Raising The Bar: The Future of Fine Chocolate, has consumers dreaming of a chocolate Christmas, but not just any chocolate.

Fine-Flavor Chocolate at Risk, Ecole Chocolat Founder Says in New Book
Consumers who demand the best must become aware that their favorite fine chocolate may well be facing extinction if nothing is done to protect the most luxuriant-tasting strains now growing in remote equatorial forests around the world, says Ecole Chocolat Founder and Author Pam Williams in her new book, Raising the Bar.

Chocolate and Spice and Everything Nice in Ecole Chocolat Grad's Truffle
The year-end holiday season – whether it involves Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other treasured family celebration – evokes nostalgia in many of us, says Ecole Chocolat graduate and master chocolatier Elaine Hsieh of EH Chocolatier in Somerville, MA. She offers us a delicious recipe for a special holiday truffle.

New Book by Ecole Chocolat Founder Looks at Future of Fine Chocolate
Two years in the making and in honor of the school's 10th anniversary, Ecole Chocolat founder Pam Williams has just announced publication of her new book, “Raising the Bar: The Future of Fine Chocolate.” The book offers a “global journey from cacao gene and cocoa bean to chocolate bar and bonbon,” and looks at the future of the world's finest chocolate as seen through the eyes of people who live chocolate every day and strive to preserve its richest, most complex and endangered forms for future generations, says Williams.

Ecole Chocolat Grads, Other Professionals, Head for Italy This Fall
This fall's Ecole Chocolat's Masters Program in Italy promises to be inspirational for professional chocolatiers wishing to upgrade their skills and learn the secrets of fine Italian chocolate making, says Program Leader Judy Witts of Diva Cucina cooking school in Florence, Italy. Witts is a long-time resident whose cooking, teaching and writing have made her a renowned expert in Italian food and cooking.

Ecole Chocolat Grad Takes Top Honors with Agave Caramel
Ecole Chocolat grad Emir Kiamilev was thrilled to report that his Amella agave caramels, made with cocoa butter, were chosen as top caramel in recent Chocolate Salon awards. Amella's caramels will be the official caramel for the 2013 Taste Awards – also known as the TASTY Awards, the premier broadcast awards show celebrating and recognizing the year's best achievements in food, fashion, and lifestyle programs on television, in film, online and radio. Amella Caramels is located in El Segundo, Ca.

Get Ready for Great Holiday Gift-Giving
Chocolate aficionados and home chocolate artisans please note: This one's for you, as Ecole Chocolat Professional School of Chocolate Arts offers the Chocolate Technique and Flavor Stream as part of the Professional Chocolatier Program.

It's the Beans! Ecole Chocolat Grads Learn as They Explore Cacao in Ecuador
Ecole Chocolat graduate and Santa Barbara, Ca. chocolatier Maya Schoop-Rutten had her eyes opened when she participated in a recent Ecole Chocolat Master's Program in Ecuador that took participants from Quito through the Andes to Quevedo City, La Mana, Mindo and Kallari regions of the country.

Emergence of Chocolate Industry In India
Chocolates may be items of impulse-purchase, competing with other categories like soft drinks, snacks and beverages for a share of the consumer's wallet, but modern trade and other factors like liberalisation of the economy, growing income of middle class and macro-economic conditions have had a positive impact on consumer spending, says The India Times, which also names Ecole Chocolat as one of several professional chocolate arts schools in the world.

'Beerific' Pairing for Dad's Day: Chocolate and Craft Beer
Bacon, beer and Scotch all sound like they might appeal to Dads in one form or another on Father's Day, but pair them with chocolate and you've got a sure-fire winner, says Ecole Chocolat graduate Gail Ambrosius, whose chocolate shop under the same name has been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Bon Appetit, Food Network Magazine and the Today Show.

Celebrate Flavors of Spring with Strawberry Rhubarb Truffle
Spring means fresher, lighter, more vibrant flavors and in celebration, Ecole Chocolat founder Pam Williams has conjured a delicious sweet that uses two of our favorite spring-time treats: strawberries and rhubarb.

Top North American Chocolatiers, All EC grads, Prepare for Mom's Day
Chocolate is as much a passion as it is a business, say three Ecole Chocolat graduates who were named among the Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America by Dessert Professionals Magazine. All three are currently busy producing their fabulous artisan chocolate creations for special Mother's Day gifting.

EC Grads Check Out the Chocolate Scene in Paris
Fourteen professional chocolatiers, most of them graduates of Ecole Chocolat's Professional Chocolatier Program, arrived in Paris this week to extend and deepen their knowledge and skills with various masters of the chocolate arts through the school's Chocolate Masterclasses.

Abundance of Chocolate Easter Eggs a Toothsome Tradition
Eggs are a symbol for new life, the essence of nature's determination that winter will end and spring come forward with its pastel promise of natural abundance. And when the eggs are made of chocolate, you know Easter can't be far behind.

Making These Truffles May Lead to the Altar this Leap Year
Chocolate, possessed of natural chemicals that unleash positive feelings in those who indulge, is in a class of potent love foods that bring extra meaning to the table this leap year.

You Can't Go Wrong With Chocolate on Valentine's
Valentine's is one day that's no sweat for gifting. . . a bottle of fine wine, a beautiful dinner and a box of exquisite chocolates will say all the right things when the intent is to give the best.

Valentine's a Busy Time for Artisan Chocolatiers Across the Country
Today's chocolate connoiseurs look to the quality, creativity and passion artisan chocolatiers such as Diane Pinder and Beth Tulley, both Ecole Chocolat graduates, bring to the table.

Ecole Chocolat Graduates Selected Top Ten Chocolatiers
Three Ecole Chocolat graduates are selected as Dessert Professional Magazine's Top Ten Chocolatiers in North America: Bill Copeland, Jacqueline Jacek, and Kate Shaffer.

Here's a Sweet Resolution for 2012
Getting more education or a better job are among the top 10 New Year's resolutions for many people. And those who are looking to launch themselves into a new career or business could do worse than to consider chocolate as an option.

Top Chocolatiers and Artisan Chocolate Makers Struggling to Keep Up with Demand on the Busiest Week of the Year
Artisans at the top tier of the chocolate industry get a double whammy between escalating sales and production limitations.


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Photography by Jessica Washburn, Bliss Chocolatier and Ecole Chocolat

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