Kate Cavallin is the founder of Cocoa Masterclass and teaches Market Perspectives courses. Kate is the Head of Cacao Latitudes, an importer, distributor and value chain manager working with over 20 origins and 30 sources of specialty cocoa beans. Cacao Latitudes sources from exceptional growers and helps deliver cocoa products to the specialty chocolate market. Before Cacao Latitudes, Kate founded Agroarriba S.A. the cocoa export operation for ECOM Agrotrade in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She established the operation and grew to export over 30,000 metric tons of bulk, certified and specialty cocoa annually. She also worked in rural agricultural development in the Dominican Republic and started her adventures in cocoa in the Peace Corps. Cavallin holds degrees from Northwestern, Kellogg School of Management and Miami University. She lives in London.
Kate’s Cocoa Masterclass courses
Dr. Charles Kerchner teaches sustainability and conservation themes for the Cocoa Masterclass. Charles brings over 20 years of experience working in areas across the full supply chain of cocoa. He has technical expertise from farm level management and fermentation to in depth commercial knowledge developing craft market cocoa sales distribution channels in over 15 countries. He is the Founder and Managing Director of Zorzal Cacao, a specialty cocoa producer focused on biodiversity and bird conservation in the northern mountain range of the Dominican Republic. Charles is also the co-founder of Reserva Zorzal, a 1,019 acre bird sanctuary and organic cacao farm. Dr. Kerchner’s landscape scale forest conservation initiatives in cocoa producing countries has been funded and recognized by the World Bank, United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, American Bird Conservancy, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, among others. He holds a B.A. from Lafayette College, an M.S. in Forest Economics from the University of Vermont, and a Ph.D. in Forestry from the University of Vermont.
Charles Cocoa Masterclass courses
Greg D’Alesandre teaches Market Perspective courses. Greg has a 30 year history in Cacao, Chocolate, and Technology. Graduating from Brown University with a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, he spent the first part of his career working in a variety of startups in Engineering, Consulting, and Project Management capacities leading him to working as a Group Product Manager at Google. Starting in 2012 Greg shifted his work to Chocolate as the Chief Sourcing Officer for Dandelion Chocolate. In that capacity he’s worked with cocoa producers all over the world as well as helped build out Dandelion’s production and business. More recently he worked as the Head of Sustainable Farm Investment for Wedgetail Ventures focusing on bringing financing to tropical agriculture businesses in and out of cacao who focus on biodiversity. He now runs the independent Cocoa and Chocolate consultancy Sourcerer Solutions. He has visited over 30 cocoa growing countries and hundreds of farms and fermentaries. He’s a judge for Cacao of Excellence, co-author of “Making Chocolate: Bean to Bar to S’more,” and occasional co-host on Craft Chocolate TV.
Justine Chesnoy teaches Market Perspectives courses. Justine Chesnoy is the founder and Commercial Director of Cacao Latitudes, an importer, distributor and value chain manager working with over 20 origins and 30 sources of specialty cocoa beans. Cacao Latitudes sources from exceptional growers and helps deliver cocoa products to the specialty chocolate market. Before Cacao Latitudes, Justine worked with CAMSA, managing the sourcing of cocoa beans in Peru from over 5,000 small farmers across all cocoa growing regions. She also spent years in trading cocoa and relationship management for premium European customers at Armajaro Ltd. Chesnoy holds Masters Degrees from the Sorbonne University- Paris and Institut d’Etudes Politique de Toulouse.
Justine’s Cocoa Masterclass courses
Dr. Kristy Leissle is Curriculum Director for the Cocoa Masterclass, and teaches Market Perspectives courses. Kristy is Founder & CEO of African Cocoa Marketplace, Inc., a digital marketplace that connects cocoa sellers, buyers, investors, and service providers across Africa. She is also co-founder with Bill Guyton of Specialty Cocoa & Chocolate Associates, and with Moutia Murheb of the Cocoapreneurship Institute of Ghana. Kristy previously worked as Cocoa Marketer for Twin & Twin Trading, where she marketed specialty cocoa from Africa, and as Education Director for the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle. An internationally recognized expert in cocoa and chocolate, Kristy has spent close to twenty years researching and writing about African cocoa supply chains. She is the author of Cocoa, on geopolitics, and the series, "I am a cocoa farmer," for Confectionery News, where she serves on the Editorial Board. Dr. Leissle holds degrees from Oxford University, University of Washington, and Boston College. She lives in Johannesburg.
Kristy’s Cocoa Masterclass courses
Sarah Bharath teaches Seed Perspectives courses for the Cocoa Masterclass. Sarah is a self-proclaimed soil-to-seed worker who came to cacao via academia, but found her roots best anchored alongside cacao trees and their field companions. She has focused much of her last 24 years on the cacao plant and its growing system, what both need to thrive, and how post-harvest processing coupled with sensory science can be used to explore the many hidden dimensions of cacao. She works directly with cacao producers to co-create solutions to field-based and processing challenges, with an increasing focus on teaching applied science in the real world of cacao and regenerative agriculture systems.
Sarah’s Cocoa Masterclass courses
Valentina Bosia is the Head of Quality for Cacao Latitudes, an importer, distributor and value chain manager. Cacao Latitudes sources from exceptional growers and helps deliver cocoa products to the specialty chocolate market.
Bringing 10 years of expertise in cacao and chocolate, Valentina manages over 20 origins and 30 specialty cocoa bean sources, focusing on flavor profiling and ensuring the physical quality of all imported cacao lots.
Before Cacao Latitudes Valentina was a recipe developer and sales support at Diamond Custom Machines, an US based bean-to-bar machinery manufacturer.
In 2014, she launched her Swiss craft chocolate brand, Aminda, marking the start of her journey as a chocolate maker. Since then, she has worked directly with over 40 cacao origins, mastering the art of evaluation and transformation.This hands-on approach has shaped her expertise in the field.
Valentina is an alumna of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollezo, Italy.
First-Level Specialization Course in Sensory Analysis of Honey, Piana
She currently lives in Amsterdam
Valentina’s Cocoa Masterclass courses
