South Africa’s very own 100% African chocolate, Afrikoa has just recently won at the International Great Taste Awards 2018.
The Great Taste awards are organised by the Guild of Fine Food and is the acknowledged benchmark of fine food and drink.
Afrikoa won the Great Taste Award for it's 55 percent semi-sweet dark chocolate which has a longer conching time which results in a velvety smooth, milder chocolate which is perfect for those who aren’t dark chocolate fans but still prefer a chocolate that isn’t too sweet.
The chocolate has a plenty of toasted almond and raisin flavours intermingled with fried fruit notes and was a winner of a 2-star rating out of 3 at the Great Taste Awards, judges describing it as an ‘eyes-closed moment to savour’.
The competition was judged by over 500 of the most demanding palates, belonging to food critics, chefs, cooks, restaurateurs and producers, as well as a whole host of food writers and journalists.
Afrikoa is the first bean-to-bar company in South Africa to produce chocolate made from cocoa sourced directly from African farmers.
This just in: our 55% dark chocolate has received a #GreatTasteAward! Judges described our chocolate as 'an eyes closed moment to savour'. We are happy dancing at the factory today! 💃🏿🕺 pic.twitter.com/w0H075d04g
— Afrikoa Chocolate (@afrikoa) August 1, 2018
By trading directly with the Tanzanian farmers (and cutting out about 7 middlemen), they are ensuring the freshest, finest-quality cocoa beans and empowering the farmers to create their own sustainable futures.
Their cocoa beans never leave the continent, travelling just far enough to the southern tip of Africa, where our experienced chocolate-makers create the perfect chocolate bar and all their chocolate is Halaal and Kosher-certified and contains no artificial flavourings, colourings or soy, with their dark chocolates lactose-free and suitable for vegans.
Afrikoa Head Chocolate-maker, Antonino Allegra says they are incredibly honoured to win in a category with so many fantastic chocolates from around the world - and on their first year of entering the Great Taste Awards too.
“For us, this is a recognition that chocolate made in South Africa from African cocoa beans can compete with the best in the world. When we created the 55% semi sweet chocolate, we wanted to make a dark chocolate that chocolate lovers of all ages can enjoy; not too dark and not too sweet - a bar that is in-between a dark and milk chocolate. Thanks to the appreciation the judges showed for our chocolate, we hope Afrikoa will reach more people,” he says.