THE HUNT IS ON FOR NEW ZEALAND BEST CHOCOLATES

Monday 15 August 2022. Chocolate makers and chocolatiers are being called on to submit entries in the hunt to the find the country’s best in the biennial NZ Chocolate Awards.

Online entry for the NZ Chocolate Awards open on Monday 15 August, with judging on Saturday 1 October 2022 to find the NZ Chocolate Awards Supreme Winner 2022 as well as 10 category winners. Entries will be assessed by an esteemed panel of food professionals led, once again, by international chocolate judge Elle Coco.

NZ Chocolate Awards Supreme Winner will be announced on Tuesday 25 October 2022, just in time for chocolate lovers to know what chocolate to buy for Christmas!

The 2020 Supreme Winner was Foundry Fine Craft Chocolate, which swept up the competition with awards for the Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Bar Plain Category Winner for Foundry Chocolate Anamalai Estate, India 70%, as well as seven gold medals.

David Herrick from Foundry Chocolate says “Winning the Supreme Award at the 2020 NZ Chocolate Awards opened opportunities and started conversations with retailers that were invaluable to our little company that was only 18 months old. The awards gave us the footing to navigate the pandemics and lockdowns that were to follow and we are very grateful.”

Judging for this year’s NZ Chocolate Awards will be conducted across categories; Bean-to-Bar; Flavoured Chocolate Bar; Filled Chocolate - truffles and bonbons; Bark or Brittle/Dipped Fruit and Nuts and an Open Class which includes Drinking Chocolate, Kids’ Choice and Flavoured Chocolate Bars with added vanilla.

Gold Medal winners from each category are considered for title of Category Winner. The top scoring gold Medal chocolate from Bean-to-Bar, Flavoured Chocolate Bar, Filled Chocolate and Bark or Brittle/Dipped Fruit and Nuts are then re-judged and the highest scoring products will be awarded the title of NZ Chocolate Awards 2022 Supreme Winner.

The NZ Chocolate Awards were initially held in 2017 and 2018, before moving to a biennial schedule in 2020. Organisers, food awards specialists Kathie Bartley and Nicola McConnell; founders and owners of the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards and managers of the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards and NZ Ice Cream & Gelato Awards; say it makes sense to judge every two years. “Artisan chocolate is relatively small industry in New Zealand and many of the producers are boutique wouldn’t have the resources to support an annual Awards,” Kathie said.

Organiser Kathie Bartley is excited about the return of the Awards. “Since we last judged in March 2020, before Covid changed our lives, the ranks of artisan chocolate makers and chocolatiers have swelled. Additionally Kiwi foodies are keener than ever to support local businesses by buying NZ made. We want to give consumers confidence in buying local craft chocolate by providing an assurance of quality by awarding Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals, that chocolate makers and chocolatiers can display on their packaging and use in their marketing.”

The NZ Chocolate Awards 2022 categories are: