I consider myself a wine aficionado. Like thousands of other Americans, I cannot pass up a fine wine with dinner. But I also enjoy visiting wineries and relish tastings and the opportunity to sample different wines from around the world. And the practice of continually tasting and explaining the flavors on my tongue are translated into our lab where we do the same thing with chocolate and the drinks that we create.

I originally picked up “The House of Mondavi,” about Robert Mondavi’s iconic company, to learn how he revolutionized the wine industry in California.  But in the end, the book illustrated the rivalries and betrayals within the Mondavi family business and highlighted Mondavi’s smarts, charisma and character flaws that eventually were the company’s undoing.

Before Mondavi, California was mainly known for cheap jug wines. Mondavi founded his company in 1966 and brought to the U.S. varietal wines and superior wine-making techniques such as cold fermentation and the use of French oak barrels.

Mondavi’s story is a fascinating look at a family business that grew quickly and convinced millions of consumers to enjoy better wines than they had previously tasted. It is generally accepted that Mondavi was the catalyst behind the American movement toward the daily enjoyment of quality wine and food.

Mondavi was a brilliant, urbane salesman, but also a dysfunctional patriarch who refused to cede control of his company to his sons.  In the end, it is a very sad story. Mondavi’s sons were never able to step out of his shadow and run the company, which ultimately was sold.

The premise behind Mondavi’s lasting impact remains a critical pillar of successful business. Quality processes and techniques yield quality product. And good taste is something that can – and should - be enjoyed by everyone.  All of us in the specialty food industry owe a debt to Mondavi for helping educate people about the great potential of our unique products.  I raise my cup of coffee in tribute to Robert Mondavi.

It is one of the great discussions within the specialty coffee industry.  We are working with a large retailer that is asking for a Fair Trade certified hot cocoa drink mix.  The company has specified that the product needs to have the Fair Trade logo on it because it believes customers will react favorably to it.

I am a big believer in the fair trade system.  (Uncapitalized, in this context, and, unfortunately, always undercapitalized!)  However, in this instance, we are faced with one of the ironies of using the branded Fair Trade logo.  Namely, products can only be branded with the Trans Fair logo if they come from a cooperative.  One of our cocoa sources is in Ghana, and we have a very strong relationship with them.

Because of the governmental system in place in Ghana, farmers sell their beans directly to the government, and in return receive a reasonable price.  In Ghana, 9 million people make their living from growing cocoa, so it is in the government’s interest to ensure the price is as high as possible, and they have successfully done so for decades.  But this company is not a co-op.  So we can’t use their cocoa for this product.  Which is a shame, since we would be purchasing a significant amount of cocoa powder, the money would go straight back to Ghana, and make a significant impact on all of their lives.  It is a curious system.

Chocolate and cocoa are commodities that are widely traded, but in actuality are controlled by a handful of companies.  There are probably about a half dozen significant chocolate manufacturing companies in the world.  We work with several different ones, since each has different products that we prefer to use in different formulations. These companies are all huge multinational companies, and one often gets the sense that they are all working together as a cocoa cartel.

Over the past two years, prices have increased significantly.  Part of that can be attributed to the rise in the commodity price of cocoa.  One of  the ironies in the increase of that price is that most of it isn’t attributable to companies buying chocolate.  Instead, it comes from financial speculators, hedge fund managers, and investors trying to make money in the futures markets.  But for those of us who actually need the products and want to maintain a level of quality, it has forced about a 25 percent price increase!

The commodities market is an interesting place. Hard to believe that a hedge fund directly affects the cost of your mocha.