The world of chocolate does not stand still.

A case in point was a conversation I was having with Michael Schneider, one of the partners in Carymax—the company that organizes The World Pastry Forum and The World and National Team Pastry Championships (his other company, Haymarket Group, is the publisher of Chocolatier and Pastry Art and Design magazines).

While I may be paraphrasing him, Michael’s sentiment is that he’s not a fan of “single-origin” chocolates in part because the phrase “single-origin” is misleading. A “single-origin” or a “pure origin” Venezuelan (for example) chocolate may actually be a blend of beans from three or four or more different growing regions in Venezuela. Many companies use single-origin or Cru to describe chocolates made from designated growing regions. Among them are Cluizel, Amedei, Domori, Valrhona, Felchlin, and El Rey.

Michael is right - the names is misleading, and it is something that I’ve been struggling with for a quite a while. Maricel Presilla, in her wonderful book “The New Taste of Chocolate” also struggles with this concept and suggests the use of the term “exclusive derivation” as a replacement for single-origin. While I applaud her efforts in this regard, I think the term a little clumsy and wonder about the word exclusive: How exclusive is exclusive, really, when all the beans come from a country the size of Venezuela?

After much thought, I have come up with an alternative of my own that will be used from now on here on chocophile.com and in everything else that I do when I discuss these chocolates.. The name is based on the systems is use in the wine industry for hundreds of years:Appellation d’Origine, abbreviated AO. Or in English—Named Origin.

If you’re knowledgeable about wine, you’ll know that the French use the phrase AOC signifying that the use of the name is controlled by some industry group. The controlling group’s purpose is to ensure that wines labeled with a particular appellation are in fact from the growing region named and meet the local standards of the group for production methods. Examples include Champagne and Armagnac. Both Italy and Spain have their own version of AOC—in Italy, for examples it’s DOC - and other foods including cheese, pizza (in Naples), and balsamic vinegar also have groups that control the use of specific names.

The same is not true for cacao: There are no organizations tasked with the responsibility of ensuring, for example, that the beans used to make a bar labeled Chuao actually come from Chuao. That is why the AO part is being used—without the “C”. These are chocolates made from beans of named origin, but the use of the names is not controlled in most instances. There are some named origin chocolates where the names are controlled, and these are the single-estate chocolates where the named growing region is the name of the estate. However, there is no organizational seal of approval or other oversight that ensures the validity of the use of the name and consumers are dependent on the good will of the chocolate manufacturer to validate the authenticity of the source.

This is unfortunate for both the cacao and chocolate industries, as control of the names is an important aspect of controlling consumers’ perception of quality. Although there is little that individuals outside the growing countries can do to address the issues (they are fiercely politicized), my hope is that by bringing this to people’s attention that eventually the local governments in cacao growing countries will see that it is in the best interests of their local industries to develop, maintain, protect, and market named growing regions that produce beans of specific qualities and characteristics.

UPDATE(S):

I got a call from Rand Turner who runs El Rey here in the US about this article. We had an interesting and spirited discussion on the topic that highlighted clearly the issues involved and what is at stake. Several manufacturers, he claims, are producing chocolates from a region that has no significant commercial production. While we are not in a position to say one way or the other, the claim is one that should be investigated because consumers have the right to know what they are buying. Unfortunately, this can only be addressed by a Venezuelan initiative of cacao farmers in conjunction with their government.

More chilling is a report that someone is trying to trademark the word “criollo” here in the US. Does that mean I will have to pay a licensing fee to talk about criollo beans? May seem silly, but that is one scenario.

Turner was quick to point out that El Rey gets most of its beans from the Carenero region in Barlovento State, with a significant percentage coming from the Hacienda Concepcion. While I do not doubt him, it would be nice if there was an external certification authority that could be relied on.

We have not heard the last on this subject.