Chocolate Awards - Winners Announced

With the Chocolate & Coffee Show coming up here's a heads up on the chocolates you need to know about.

After an intense tasting panel where more than 135 chocolates were assessed, the winners of the New Zealand Chocolate Awards have finally been announced.

Led by head judge Elle Coco (Crocker), fifteen of the country’s top food experts had the tough job of accessing the huge variety of New Zealand made chocolates which featured categories such as bean to bar, filled chocolate, bark and brittle. With award-winners from Matakana to Queenstown, many of the winning chocolates used ingredients and flavours unique to New Zealand such as Manuka honey, hokey pokey and Central Otago Pinot Noir. 

The 48 medals were made up of 15 gold medals, 17 silver and 16 bronze. Big gold medal winners in the bean to bar flavoured section include Hogarth Craft Chocolate who import cacao and make their own chocolate. Their Buttered Toast & Sea Salt, Manuka Honey & Cocoa Nib and Sarsaparilla & Candied Orange were all given a gold medal and sound positively mouth-watering.
 
Click here to see a full list of winners see their NZ Chocolate Awards website!

If this has made you fancy a taste of the sweet stuff, then you should head to The Chocolate & Coffee Show on 6 & 7 October. Coined the biggest celebration of chocolate, coffee and tasty treats, there will be presentations, masterclasses and of course samples of some of the best chocolate and coffee around.