Grenada, known as Spice Island, can now also be known as Chocolate Island. This Caribbean gem isn’t just a great place for families to experience green terrain, sandy white beaches and the warm, turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea, it is also home to a rich cocoa-growing heritage and an impressive chocolate industry, celebrated each May with Chocolate Fest.
The island is home to several organic chocolate plantations and factories, and is considered the birthplace of the modern tree-to-bar chocolate, a method of chocolate making pioneered by American businessman-turned-chocolatier Mott Green. Chocolate crafted by this method is made under complete control of the chocolatier, ensuring no impurities or inferior ingredients are included in the final product and all practices are approved by the maker. This usually results in chocolate grown and processed all in the same country, as is the case with Grenada chocolate.
Chocolate Fest not only celebrates this chocolate-making history, but all things chocolate. The week-long festival includes chocolate-making demonstrations and workshops allowing visitors to experience all the steps of tree-to-bar chocolate making firsthand. There are also opportunities as well to learn to make chocolate-inspired foods, beverages and beauty products.
Cocoa, Grenada. Photo: Hoffmannuli | Dreamstime.com
Families can visit and explore a tropical Theobroma Cacao Forest, meet local cocoa farmers, visit local chocolate factories and participate in chocolate tasting with experts from around the world. Chocolatiers will be on hand to share expert chocolate-making tips.
As any good festival should, Chocolate Fest will include plenty of food that not only showcases chocolate, but incorporates local flavors at every turn. The week of festivities will include breakfasts, lunches and dinners all infused with chocolate flavors. Unique chocolate-themed events will include early-morning yoga that pairs chocolate tasting with meditation.
Festival activities, scheduled to occur across the island throughout the entire week, will also include displays of local art and handicrafts and plenty of local music, making it an ideal way for the whole family to explore the rich cultural heritage of the island, in addition to its fascinating chocolate history. There will also be a traditionally built boat scheduled to take adult guests on a sunset cruise to enjoy pairings of local chocolates with locally made rums.
While originally scheduled May 1–6, the festival is currently postponed due to 2020’s COVID-19 pandemic, but is expected to be back on track as soon as possible. When the plans are resumed, Chocolate Fest is sure to be a hit with the whole family.
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