Chloé Doutre Roussel

Chloé Doutre Roussel is a globe trotting guide to the world of fine cacao and chocolate. With 35 years of experience she is a walking encyclopedia of all things chocolate, a passionate educator in the bean to bar movement, and a leading voice for socially responsible farming and trade within the industry. Chloe spends the year sourcing and rating cacao, making bean to bar chocolate, teaching classes and consulting with companies the world over. Early in her career, she was a buyer at London’s famed Fortnum and Mason, shop manager at the renowned Parisian patisserie/chocolatier Ladurée, author of the acclaimed The Chocolate Connoisseur, and creator of Chloe Chocolat in Paris.
More recently, Chloe worked with El Ceibo, a Bolivian Cacao Farmers Cooperative, developing fine chocolates for export, wholly produced by the cacao growers. She currently is a board member of the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute of the Academy of Chocolate (UK) and the Academia Del Chocolate (Ecuador), and one of seven chocolate tasters of the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund (HCP, https://hcpcacao.org).
In recognition of her leading role in the world of chocolate, Chloé Doutre Roussel was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2015 Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle.

María Fernanda Di Giacobbe

Chef, chocolatier and Venezuelan cacao ambassador María Fernanda Di Giacobbe is the founder of famed restaurant “La Paninoteka” and 8 other restaurants that combine food, art, fashion, music and theater in Caracas, Venezuela. She is the creator of the Venezuelan bonbon chocolate brand “KAKAO” and the bean to bar brand “Cacao de Origen”. She has also established two cacao/chocolate schools in Venezuela where farmers, women and entrepreneurs learn about quality and process.

In 2015, María received the Premio Gran Tenedor de Oro, the most important award given by the Venezuelan Academy of Gastronomy, in recognition of her work promoting quality cacao and support for its sustainability.

In 2016, María was awarded the Basque Culinary World Prize (nicknamed the Nobel Prize of Gastronomy) by the world renowned academic institution, The Basque Culinary Center. This award honors leaders amongst us creating major social changes through gastronomy.
In 2017, María was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Northwest Chocolate Festival in Seattle.