City’s own chocolate wins gold

Metiisto named best in country

TOOWOOMBA’S first beanto-bar chocolate factory has won gold for three of its products at the nation’s largest food awards.

Metiisto Chocolate, produced from a factory in Harristown, took out the top prize in three categories at the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria 2018 Australian Food Awards.

Chocolatier Trevor Smith said the wins were a nod to the quality of cocoa beans sourced directly from the Solomon Islands, and the recipe he was continually fine-tuning at the factory which opened in May.

“It’s a good start for untested beans and new production methods,” Mr Smith said.

The submitted bars were the first made at the factory - the Black post milk 55%, Patovaki 72% and Tenaru 67%.

They were the first to be made after Metiisto closed its doors on its Swedish factory and relocated to Australia, set- ting up in Toowoomba earlier this year.

Mr Smith said he hoped the wins raised the profile of Solomon Island cocoa farmers and gathered more support for the industry.

“It was always going to be a bit of a gamble starting again in Australia,” Mr Smith said.

“The farmers are happy and hopefully it brings some kind of political awareness to the whole (industry) and how things are dealt with over there.

“Hopefully us winning some awards brings some benefit to the farmers and the Solomon Islands.”

Metiisto will next enter the International Chocolate Awards Asia Pacific round for judging in coming months.

‘‘ IT’S A GOOD START FOR UNTESTED BEANS AND NEW PRODUCTION METHODS. METIISTO’S TREVOR SMITH