Local Chocolate Brands Win Big at the 2018 International Chocolate Awards

Time to celebrate with a chocolate bar!

by Henna Yu
Sep 20, 2018

(SPOT.ph) While we love all kinds of chocolate, we can safely say that our local artisans are producing some of the best chocolate the world over. Don't just take our word for it—on September 14, Malagos Chocolate and Theo & Philo garnered awards at the International Chocolate Awards - 2018 Asia Pacific Competition. This is the first time that the International Chocolate Awards opened a separate category for Asia (previously, Asian chocolatiers competed in the Americas category).

Theo & Philo, who pride themselves on being one of the country's first bean-to-bar chocolate producers, won Bronze for their "three favorite bars:" 65% Dark Chocolate with Black Sesame, Cashew and Pili Nuts, 65% Dark Chocolate with Calamansi, and Milk Chocolate Adobo with soy-sauce toffee.

Meanwhile, proudly Davao-born Malagos Chocolate won a whopping six awards: Bronze for Malagos 65% Dark Chocolate, and Malagos Salted Caramel; Silver for their 85% Dark Chocolate, Malagos Rhum (a new-flavored chocolate bar), and Malagos 72% Dark Chocolate Ganache; and Gold for their 65% Dark Chocolate. In an Instagram post, Malagos Chocolate shares that "Our [international] awards received to date is now 24," an amazing feat for any brand.

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Proudly Davao-born Malagos Chocolate won a whopping six awards.
PHOTO BY Malagos Chocolate Facebook page

Theo & Philo uses beans from Davao and sugar from Bacolod for their chocolate bars.
PHOTO BY Theo & Philo Facebook page

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We are blessed and happy to announce that 3 of our favorite bars have received the Bronze award from the International Chocolate Awards @chocawards ???????????? The winning bars are: Dark Chocolate with Calamansi Dark Chocolate with Black Sesame, Cashew and Pili Milk Chocolate Adobo #FearlesslyFilipino #FearlessFlavors #awardwinners #internationalchocolateawards

A post shared by Theo and Philo (@theoandphilo) on Sep 19, 2018 at 7:21pm PDT

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When it rains, it DEFINITELY pours! Davao cacao farmers reap 5 awards + a GOLD national award at the International Chocolate Awards! Winners were announced during the awarding ceremony last Friday, Sept 14. Our intl awards received to date is now 24 ????????????! #FarmersRock #GodIsGood ? Silver: -Malagos 85% Dark Chocolate (Bar Category) -New product! Malagos Rhum (Flavored Dark Chocolate Ganaches or Truffles Category) -New product! Malagos 72% Dark Chocolate Ganache (Unflavoured Dark Chocolate Ganaches or Truffles Category) ? Bronze: -Malagos 65% Dark Chocolate (Bar Category) -New product! Malagos Salted Caramel (Dark Chocolate Enrobed Caramels Category) ? National Awards (Given to Grand Jury Philippine finalists; 10 or more entries from one country in a category) Gold - Philippines Malagos 65% Dark Chocolate ? Complete list of winners here https://www.internationalchocolateawards.com/2018/09/asia-pacific-2018-competition-winners/ ? The 2018 Asia-Pacific competition was held for the first time as in independent competition in Asia and saw a doubling of entries from the previous year (held in 2017 as part of the Americas competition). 700 products were entered by over 100 chocolate companies from 16 different countries. ? The judging panel included judges from the USA, Europe, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and members of the international Grand Jury panel around the world. All judging is anonymised, included at the Grand Jury final session, where Golds, Silver and Bronze prizes are awarded by private voting according to the Grand Jury rules. ? https://malagoschocolate.com ? Message us (PM or email sales@malagoschocolate.com) for inquiries. ? #ProudFarmers5DecadesAndCounting #AwardWinning #PhilippineChocolate #SingleOrigin #HelpPutPhilippinesOnTheChocolateMap #Best50BeanSamples

A post shared by Malagos Chocolate (@malagoschocolate) on Sep 15, 2018 at 8:16pm PDT

Founded in 2012, the International Chocolate Awards is run by a group of independent international partners based in the U.K., Italy and the U.S.A. Judges include a wide range of experts, tasters, pastry chefs, food journalists, bloggers, sommeliers, chefs, and a permanent Grand Jury.

This isn't the first time this year that Malagos Chocolate and Theo & Philo won awards. Just last July, they received several recognitions at the 2018 Academy of Chocolate awards in the U.K., together with Auro Chocolate, which also uses Davao cacao beans to create single-origin, bean-to-bar chocolate. Now excuse us as we celebrate with a bar!

See a full list of International Chocolate Awards - Asia Pacific Competition winners.

See a list of Theo & Philo merchants.

See Malagos Chocolate merchants. Also available on the Malagos Chocolate website.