October is something like the Olympics for small and large chocolatiers working with fine chocolate from across the globe who compete for coveted medals in the International Chocolate Awards.
After some success previously winning awards in this competition, we decided to put a few of our chocolates before the judges again this year. We picked seven bonbons we thought would stand up well and were ecstatic to win two gold and four silver medals in the most technically challenging category of dark chocolate ganaches during the Canadian leg of the competition.
Winners of each of the individual country competitions were then judged together at the World Final in London England this month, which celebrates the best entries of the year. This year, more than 1,700 finalists from around the world were sampled and judged by a grand jury. That’s a lot of chocolate to nibble your way through in the week-long judging marathon. We were proud to have all our chocolates recognized as finalists in that competition with our Pure Nacional chocolate winning silver!
So, you may be wondering what goes into making chocolates that stand up to that kind of scrutiny and come out rated among the best in the world? Well, we think it’s a special recipe of using the very best chocolate and other ingredients, mixed with careful care and attention at every step of the multi-day process of making great fine chocolate and then constantly refining and perfecting your technique as you continue to learn more from the best chocolatiers around.
We find great local ingredients and pair those with only the best, and some of the rarest chocolate on earth – chocolate made by producers with more than a hundred years of experience, who value everyone in the production chain. Each of these dedicated cacoa farmers has their own great story. At the heart of our story is a drive for creating good things, by and for good people, supporting strong communities. While the award wins are pretty cool, it’s the bigger story and all the people in the process we’re connected to — including people like you reading this blog — that really gets us out of bed in the morning.
Chocolatier at work in the chocolate studio