Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival: A Community-Driven Celebration of Craft and Farming

The Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival debuted in 2024 as a unique event focused on education, sustainability, and community. Held in Rushville, Indiana, it aims to reconnect chocolate with its agricultural foundations by bringing chocolate makers, cacao farmers, and local Midwestern farmers into an open, collaborative space.

Unlike most typical chocolate fairs, which are centered on product sales, this non-profit event prioritizes free educational sessions, discussions, and hands-on experiences. Thus, it provides an opportunity for industry professionals and the broader community to engage meaningfully with craft chocolate.

A Festival with a Mission

Founded by Dustin Cornett of Chocolat Café, the Midwest Craft Chocolate Festival aims to rebuild the connection between chocolate and farming by highlighting the entire journey of chocolate, from soil to bar.

Core Values

• Offering a space for chocolate makers to address challenges beyond sourcing. From understanding fermentation, refining roasting techniques, selecting the right machinery for small-batch production, ensuring consistency in flavor profiles, and finding better ways to communicate the value of their work to consumers, the event offers an opportunity for makers to exchange knowledge and seek guidance from industry experts.

• Expanding the understanding of craft chocolate as an agricultural product.

• Emphasizing the contributions of cacao farmers and local Midwestern farmers to quality and sustainability.

• Fostering open discussions between chocolate makers, farmers, and consumers through interactive sessions.

• Strengthening ties with Rushville’s agricultural community, ensuring local involvement.

One of the aspects I appreciate most about this project is its commitment to re-centering the conversation around "cacao as a crop".

As I often say:

Bean to Bar Chocolate is, first and foremost, a method of agriculture, not just a chocolate-making process.

This idea is often overlooked in today’s industry. At the beginning of the specialty chocolate movement, the attention was heavily on cacao farmers, ethical sourcing, sustainability, and post-harvest handling. Over time, however, the narrative has become increasingly product-driven, creating a disconnect between craft chocolate and its farming origins. This festival actively challenges that shift by ensuring that the cultivation process remains at the heart of the conversation. The common purpose is to explore chocolate not just as "something to taste," but as the result of land, labor, and expertise, allowing a deeper understanding of what defines true quality.

The 2024 Edition: A Strong Foundation for the Future

The first edition was packed with engaging discussions, expert-led workshops, and diverse vendors, all contributing to its community-centered spirit and commitment to knowledge-sharing across different fields of the market. Among the notable participants were:

• Clay Gordon, founder of The Chocolate Life

• Leila Carvajal of Cocoa Supply

• David Nielsen, founder of Bean to Barstool

• Anne Zacek of Heirloom Cacao Preservation

• Nettie Atkinson, founder of Small Batch Education

• Connor Tierney, founder of Chocolate Thunder

Vendors & Participants: A Celebration of Craft and Agriculture

Unlike many chocolate festivals that primarily highlight chocolate makers, this event also included cacao farmers and smallholder vendors, reinforcing the importance of the entire production process, and honoring farming traditions while showcasing high-quality, ethically produced chocolate.

Participating Craft Chocolate Makers & Vendors:

• Chocolat Café 

• Maverick Chocolate

• Fjorden Sjokolade

• Cocoa Supply

• Mayan Harvest

• Yellow Bird Chocolate Shop

• Chocolate Thunder

• Yojoa Handcrafted Chocolate

• Cacaitos Fine Cacao

• Chocs`N Boxes

• Dwaar Chocolate

• Sweet Bean Chocolate

• Embers Chocolate

• Lumineux Chocolate

• Mademoiselle Miel

• Cocoa Town

• Small Batch Education

• Heirloom Cacao Preservation

• Encore Coffee & Chocolate

• Bean to Barstool

• Peace on Fifth

• Fusion Epicure

• Lohcally Artisan Chocolates

A Festival That Respects Local Identity

What makes this gathering distinctive is its intentional connection to place and community. Rushville, Indiana, was deliberately chosen as a location where farming, sustainability, and craft production naturally intersect, making it an ideal place to explore chocolate’s deeper roots.

Unlike industry fairs that focus mainly on product sales and consumer outreach, this event encourages a deeper understanding of the entire production process. This perspective benefits farmers and chocolate makers, who can connect directly with suppliers and producers sourcing high-quality cacao and hand-crafting better chocolate.

My Role in 2025: Continuing the Conversation

I am honored to have been invited to join this event starting in 2025 as a speaker and content strategist. Being part of a gathering that brings together diverse voices in the chocolate industry is an exciting opportunity, and I look forward to contributing to the discussions it fosters.

Looking Ahead: The Future of the Festival

The success of the 2024 edition has laid the groundwork for an even more impactful 2025 edition, with more:

• Educational sessions focused on farming, sourcing, and sustainability.

• Stronger collaborations between Midwestern farmers and cacao producers.

• Opportunities for consumers to engage more deeply with the craft chocolate movement.

If you are interested in chocolate, ethical farming, and the true story behind cacao, this is an unmissable event.

I look forward to sharing my knowledge and experiences in 2025, continuing this important conversation, and seeing how this festival evolves into a key event for the craft chocolate industry.