Chocolate Lovers Unite: What Are Chocolate Lovers Meetup Groups?

Yes, I do love to eat chocolate. I like all types, be it milk, dark, white, or any other type that I am not typing as I am busy licking my lips! While I do not hide this fact, I had not thought about joining a group with people who share this interest. I became intrigued when I heard about the Chocolate Lovers Meetup Groups. I had to know more. I had to write this hub.

There are currently 22 Chocolate Lovers Meetup Groups, based in three countries.

The groups regularly meet to discuss aspects of chocolate, eat it (of course!) and trade recipes. I know! In total, there are currently 3,463 members in the organization. Well, I may just have to join too so that number could be increasing soon... along with my waistline!

There are currently groups in the United States, England and Australia. While England and Australia each have one group, the rest are geographically clustered in the US. The largest of the groups are in San Francisco, Seattle and Portland.

Here are the group numbers:

• The San Francisco Bay Area CHOCOLATE Meetup has 900 members.

• The Seattle Area CHOCOLATE Meetup has 423 members.

• The Portland Chocolate Lovers Meetup Group has 156 members.

Shout out to San Francisco, you have great taste! Literally. (Why yes, you can groan. I did.)

The groups plan activities that revolve around an aspect of the sweet treat. In April, the San Fran group planned a "Chocolate Hike". The description of the event, posted on meetup.com prior to the set date, includes this description:

"We want to eat more chocolate?!

Burn off some calories and then enjoy some more by eating Chocolate with us in Golden Gate Park. There are great views of our city to be found here and we will stop to take pleasure in them and chocolate at certain points along our route."

While the agenda is longer than this excerpt, I had to stop at this point and think about the combination of exercise with the delicious food.

I smile.

The point of the hike is about more than the exercise, it is about having fun with other people and enjoying two of my favorite things:

• Sweet Treats
• Walking

While I do not put them together on a regular basis, I think this does sound like a fun day out! The group even uploaded photos here of the event. Looks like it was fun, aha I was right!

The next largest group is the Seattle Area Meetup. The last meetup was a few weeks ago at the Seattle Chocolate Salon. Wait for it: The group attended the "5th Annual Seattle Luxury Chocolate Salon" - the 5th Annual! How have I missed hearing about this event five years in a row?! While I do not live in Seattle, or even in the US for that matter, I am still baffled that my brownie-loving being has not read about this one sooner.

At the event, several chocolatiers, confectioners and other culinary artists were featured. There were tastings, demonstrations and interviews by TasteTV's Chocolate Television program.

(Note to self: include TasteTV in my next cable package).

37 members of the group attended, and the "Event Host" was Regina, who has as her profile tagline: "I am all about chocolate!" It seems she would have been in heaven at the event! Well, a chocolatey sort of heaven...

Both of these groups were founded in 2008 and appear to be going strong in terms of member participation and planning of events. If you would like to join or find out more information, check out the Chocolate Lovers Meetup Groups.

Enjoy yourself, make new friends and eat some delicious food while you are at it! I may just start one here in Canada soon. Sweet dreams, my friends. (Yes, you may groan again.)