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No Plants
No Chocolate

This Branch Out podcast episode is your golden ticket into the sweet and serious side of chocolate making. After all, chocolate doesn’t grow on trees! Actually, that's part of the story.

Discover how plant diseases are threatening the supply of chocolate with Professor David Guest, a plant pathologist from the University of Sydney. You’ll also learn how to make this delicious treat from bean to bar inside the bustling kitchen of Jessica Pedemont, known as the chocolate artisan.

Theobroma cacao grows in hot and humid environments near the equator and produces these pods which are about the size of eggplants.
Cacao pods around the world are affected by the destructive plant pathogen phytophthora palmivora, also known as 'black pod rot'.
Making chocolate from bean to bar is a complex and beautiful art. 
Branch Out host and producer, Vanessa Fuchs, learning how to make chocolate inside Jessica Pedemont's kitchen.
Jessica Pedemont prides herself on responsibly sourcing her cacao beans and making her delicous and beautiful chocolate creations from scratch. 
Jessica Pedemont has over 20 years experience in culinary arts and her chocolate making is making an impact!
Professor David Guest from the University of Sydney meeting with cocoa farmers in Papua New Guinea.

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