Kerstin Roos owns a small independent chocolate shop in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) called Kerstin’s Chocolates. Before entering the world of chocolate she taught ESL overseas. In 2001 she moved to New York City and began taking chocolate and confectionary classes. In 2003 she moved back home to Canada and opened a chocolate business. She imports many different chocolate bars from around the world (Bonnat, Pralus, Michel Cluizel, Amano, Amedei, Domori, Patric, Claudio Corallo, Madecasse, and many others.) She also makes her own confections and bars using chocolate from Felchlin and Valrhona. Kerstin has been on a personal mission to educate Albertans about the wonders of fine chocolate, and has led hundreds of chocolate tastings since she started her business in 2004.
Kerstin recently decided that she needed to get deeper into the world of cacao and, since she is an avid traveler, began to plan a one-year voyage to some of the major cacao-growing regions around the world. From October 2011 to August 2012 she will be visiting cacao plantations and other cacao-related places with her husband Cyrus and her two children, Darius and Ilona. She intends to start the trip with a visit to the Salon Du Chocolat in Paris, then head to Madagascar. From there, the family will travel to SE Asia and hopefully visit some cacao plantations there (Indonesia, Philippines or Vietnam). After a visit to the chocolate parlours of Tokyo, she will head to the jungles of southern Mexico and investigate the ancient cacao culture and the modern-day Mayans. She hopes to spend lots of time in Ecuador too, and perhaps visit the Lake Maracaibo and Chuao regions of Venezuela. The trip will finish with a visit to the Dominican Republic and their wonderful cacao.
During this trip Kerstin will be posting reports here on The Chocolate Chronicles and responding to your comments, so please let her know what you think of the voyage!
Kerstin also wants to find more ways to improve the sustainability of the fine cacao industry, and she will be on the lookout for ways from us all to give back, beyond buying chocolate made with great cacao.