Cacao in the City

About this Event

From Neilson’s and Willards to Laura Secord, chocolate has a long history in Canada—but every cocoa bean used to make it begins its journey somewhere else.

Where does cacao come from, and what stories travel with it before it becomes the chocolate we enjoy in Toronto?

Cacao in the City traces cacao’s global-to-local journey, exploring its Latin American heritage, Indigenous knowledge systems, colonial trade, biodiversity, and the role of local producers in today’s craft chocolate movement.

Join educator and researcher Dr. Juan Marcelo Gómez, author of Decoding Cacao: From Ancient Traditions to Modern Craft Chocolate, for an evening of conversation, and storytelling exploring cacao’s origins, cultural history, transformation, and journey into Toronto’s chocolate-making story.

In partnership with the Institute of Innovation and Advanced Learning (IIAL), working in collaboration with Nahua.