Crafting Chocolate. Connecting People. Changing Lives.

David Greenwood-Haigh has spent more than four decades working in hospitality, food and chocolate learning, cooking, travelling, teaching and asking questions about where our food comes from and the people behind it.

A Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality, Disciple of Escoffier, World Master Chef and multi-award-winning chef and chocolatier, David has built a career around something more important than titles: sharing knowledge.

For him, chocolate has never simply been a product. It is a way into conversations about flavour, culture, farming, sustainability, trade and people.

From Yorkshire to the cacao farm

David’s work has taken him from professional kitchens in Yorkshire to cocoa-growing communities across Ghana, Togo, São Tomé and Príncipe and Haiti.

He works with farmers, chocolate makers, entrepreneurs, chefs and students, helping turn knowledge into practical results — from bean-to-bar production and product development to recipe creation, training, quality improvement and creating greater value at origin.

The relationship works both ways.

David does not travel to cocoa-producing countries believing that European chefs have all the answers. He goes to teach, certainly, but also to listen and learn.

The farmers, cooks and makers he works alongside possess generations of knowledge about cacao, fermentation, fire, flavour and local ingredients. Bringing those worlds together is where some of the most interesting work begins.

Chocolate, trade and opportunity

As a Northern Powerhouse Export Champion for the UK Department for Business and Trade, David has championed international trade and encouraged smaller businesses and producers to look beyond their home markets.

His belief is simple: trade should create opportunity throughout the supply chain including for the people growing and processing cacao at origin.

That means asking more difficult questions about value, sustainability and who really benefits from the chocolate we eat.

Judging quality and encouraging people

David judges across the international food and chocolate world, including the Academy of Chocolate Awards, International Chocolate Awards, Great Taste, British Cheese Awards and World Steak Challenge, as well as serving as Head Judge of the British Chocolate Awards.

Judging, for him, is not simply about handing out medals.

Behind almost every product is someone who has invested money, time, skill and probably a considerable amount of worry in getting it onto the table.

Good judging should recognise excellence, identify where something can improve and encourage people to keep developing their craft.

Consultant. Chef. Teacher.

David has worked with organisations ranging from international businesses to independent chocolate makers, universities, colleges and cocoa producers.

But whether he is advising a company, teaching student chefs, working with a chocolate start-up or standing beside a fermentation box on a cocoa farm, the principle remains the same:

knowledge is most valuable when you pass it on.

He teaches in universities, colleges, kitchens, classrooms and cacao-growing communities around the world, translating technical subjects into something practical, understandable and wherever possible enjoyable.

There will usually be chocolate involved.

Stories behind the chocolate

David is also a regular speaker at festivals, conferences and events and has appeared across television and radio.

His talks move easily between chocolate history, cacao science, sustainability, flavour and the realities of the modern cocoa supply chain.

One moment might involve Maya cacao traditions; another might involve fermentation temperatures, chocolate tasting, cocoa farming or why a particular bar tastes of berries when nobody has put a berry anywhere near it.

Because the most interesting thing about chocolate is rarely just the chocolate.

It is the story behind it.

Teaching is the thread

Across more than forty years, the settings have changed considerably.

Restaurants.
Universities.
Chocolate factories.
Festival stages.
Cocoa farms.
Professional kitchens.
Village classrooms.

But the purpose has remained remarkably consistent:

Teach. Share. Encourage. Connect.

David believes in natural ingredients, good craftsmanship, greater transparency and creating more value for the people and communities at the beginning of the cocoa supply chain.

The legacy he wants to leave is not a collection of titles or trophies.

It is people who know a little more, can do a little more and perhaps have an opportunity they did not have before.

And if there happens to be some excellent chocolate along the way, all the better.

Discover the world behind the chocolate

Join David on a Chocolate Safari® and discover the people, places, history and flavours behind every bean.

[EXPLORE CHOCOLATE SAFARI®]

Company number 08039557