Phl-made chocolate wins at prestigious int’l blind-taste awards
LONDON – The world’s most prestigious blind-taste food accreditation body has adjudged a Davao-made chocolate drink as one of world’s best.
At an announcement of the Great Taste Stars of 2016, Malagos Unsweetened Chocolate was cited as among the world’s best in the Hot Chocolate Drink category, earning two out of the maximum three stars awarded by the body.
Malagos Unsweetened Chocolate is made by Malagos Agri-Ventures, based in Davao City in the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines.
Great Taste is the largest and most trusted accreditation scheme for fine food and drink, and a widely acknowledged and respected food accreditation scheme for artisan and specialty food producers.
The black-and-gold Great Taste label is given only to products which pass hours and hours of blind-tasting by hundreds of judges comprising various professionals from the food industry. Over 10,000 products were blind-tasted for this year’s competition.
Judges called Malagos Unsweetened Chocolate, “rich and very pure, fruity, and very deeply satisfying, a proper adult hot chocolate ... “
It was the first time for the Filipino company to join the Great Taste competition. However, it has already won three major international awards for its chocolates, namely the Silver at the 2016 Drinking Chocolate competition of the Academy of Chocolate’s Eighth Golden Bean Awards in London, the Silver in the 2015 World Drinking Chocolate Competition in Hannover, Germany, and the Bronze Award for Best Unflavoured Drinking Chocolate at the 2015 Academy Chocolate Awards in London.
The company started its venture in chocolates only in 2012 but has already been engaged in various agricultural and fine foods enterprises for many years now.
“These international competitions are a good opportunity for us to get feedback from respected critics and renowned connoisseurs from around the world,” said Rex Victor Puentespina, chocolate maker and head of sales and marketing of Malagos Agri-Ventures.
“Each comment helps us further improve our product and allow us to benchmark with other chocolate drinks from around the world,” he added.
The award-winning entry, Malagos Premium 100 percent Unsweetened Chocolate, was one of the company’s first efforts in producing high-quality, single-origin chocolates from cacao trees grown in the foothills of Mount Talomo in Davao.
The company makes other premium, single- origin chocolate products such as Malagos 65 percent, 72 percent and 85 percent Dark Chocolates, and Malagos Roasted Cocoa Nibs.
“It is our goal to make Davao one of best places in the world for chocolates,” Puentespina said.
Recognized as a stamp of excellence among consumers and retailers alike, Great Taste values taste above all else, with no regard for branding and packaging.
All products are removed from their wrapper, jar, box or bottle before the judges then savor, confer and re-taste to decide which products are worthy of a 1-, 2- or 3-star award.
Of the 10,000 Great Taste entries this year, 141 were awarded 3 stars, 878 received 2 stars, and 2,520 were awarded a 1-star accolade.