SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic – The Dominican Republic held its first National Chocolate Festival in Santo Domingo from December 10th – 13th. Participants could sign up for more than twenty online and in-person activities to learn about fourteen artisan chocolate companies in the Dominican Republic.
14 January, 2021 – Dominican Republic – The featured festival event was the award ceremony for the first Dominican Chocolate Competition. Participating chocolatiers entered a total of 40 chocolate samples in three categories: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and experimental chocolate. An official judging panel of domestic and international industry professionals and experts evaluated the chocolate. There was also a public judging panel of 400 consumers, each of whom received five random chocolates to evaluate.
The official panel awarded nine winning chocolates in the three categories according to physical appearance, mouthfeel, fragrance, flavor-aroma balance, global quality and global impression:
Milk chocolate
- Gold: Milz Chocolat 50% cocoa with milk
Dark chocolate
- Gold: ChocoPunto 70% cocoa
- Silver: Milz Chocolat 70% cocoa
- Bronze: ChocoPunto 78% cocoa
Experimental chocolate
- Gold: Milz Chocolat 50% cocoa with milk and coffee
- Silver: Definite Chocolate 57% cocoa with cashew milk and macadamia
- Silver: KahKow Vestige 65% cocoa
- Bronze: Choco Punto 78% unsweetened cocoa with cocoa nibs
The public panel highlighted the Dominican consumer’s palate. The People’s Choice award took the texture, flavors and overall impression of the sample into consideration and awarded the following:
Milk chocolate
- Milz 50% cocoa
- Dark chocolate
- Milz 70% cocoa
Experimental chocolate
- CONACADO 70% with dehydrated and candied tomato
The similarity between the public and professional panels’ evaluations showcases impressive demand from the local palate.
The Dominican Chocolate Festival and Dominican Chocolate Competition are initiatives of Exporting Quality, a USDA-funded program implemented in the Dominican Republic by IESC. The Dominican Republic is a global leader in the production and export of organic cocoa. Together, the festival and the competition promote the expression of the diversity of the aromas of Dominican fine cacao in chocolate and at the same time educate the domestic and international consumers about Dominican chocolate.
The Exporting Quality program created festivalchocolate.do to organize the festival and now, serve as a reference portal for Dominican chocolate.
Visit festivalchocolate.do. for a complete list of winners.
Follow the Dominican Chocolate Competition and the Dominican Chocolate Festival on social media for a behind-the-scenes look:
Instagram: concursodominicanodechocolate
