Award Winners and new 2023 awards dates announced!
Academy of Chocolate Golden BonBon Award 2022
Entries for the Academy of Chocolate Awards for filled chocolates in 2022 (both moulded and enrobed) were almost back to pre-pandemic levels.
Standards were higher than ever with flavours traditionally used in chocolates such as Apricot, Strawberry, Raspberry and Rose, Coconut, Pistachio, Pear and Elderflower represented along with highly creative compositions such as Tamarind and Tea, Black Garlic, Timur Pepper, Masala Chai and Porcini and Candied Shallot.
In addition to the many and varied products commended by the judges, forty Bronze and thirty-four Silver awards were obtained by the entrants along with four outstanding filled chocolates unanimously awarded Gold.
The golden bonbon was awarded to:
La Fève by Pavel Pavlov from Bulgaria narrowly came out on top with an exquisite Rose-Geranium infused milk chocolate ganache in a dark chocolate shell.
The 3 strong Gold runners up were:
Pralilinen from Germany with Caipirinha
The Evergreen Hotel from Taiwan with Peach Oolong Tea
Chika Watanabe from London with Timmur
Academy of Chocolate Golden Bean Award 2022
Three exceptional Top Golds no Golden Bean
Chocolate Bar excellence comes in 3 different categories
What does a Grand Jury do when it is faced with the impossible task of selecting one winner from three outstanding candidates all equally worthy of the very top Award? This was the exciting but tough dilemma the 2022 Academy of Chocolate Grand Jury found itself confronted with.
From three totally different bar categories rose a trio of magnificent winners: A dark milk chocolate, a dark chocolate from Nicaragua, and a high % chocolate from Dominican Republic, all exquisite examples of bar-making at its very best, each in a class of its own and impossible to compare fairly with the other two.
After lengthy pondering and deliberating, the judges decided not to award a Golden Bean or to set an unsatisfactory precedent by awarding three golden beans. It chose instead to give each of the three exceptional bars a Top Gold.
The three Top Gold were:
Madagascar Sambirano 60% Dark Milk, Standout Chocolate
Masaya 70%, Argencove
Oko Caribe By Mabel 95% Dark Chocolate, Chocopunto
The long wait for the 2023 awards is nearly over…
We are delighted to announce that Westminster Kingsway College has kindly agreed to host the 2023 Academy of Chocolate Awards next Autumn.
Registration will open September 1, 2023.
The deadline for sample submission is based on category:
- Bars will be due by September 29, 2023
- Filled/enrobed chocolates, spreads, hot chocolate, and brand experience will be due by October 20, 2023
Judging will take place in October and November, with the final rounds and Grand Jury decisions taken in early December. All results will be announced on the website in mid-December. Check the website for the entry dates here: https://academyofchocolate.org.uk/how-to-enter/
Events are back!
We are delighted to have already sold out our next event at KNOOPS CHOCOLATE – the hottest chocolate shop in town which has recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary since opening its first store in Rye, and has also expanded to a new location in Manchester.
We will be launching more events soon as well as re-running an updated version of the enrobed chocolate training so watch our social media and email newsletters for information about these upcoming events.