CHOCOLATE CONGRATULATIONS Owners of a Nelson craft chocolate company are celebrating after scoring what is believed to be the first New Zealand chocolate gold medal at the international Academy of Chocolate Awards in Britain. Hogarth Craft Chocolate – first sold in 2015 at the Nelson Saturday 18 JULY 2017 Market – clinched the award in the flavoured dark chocolate bar section for its Dark Hazelnut Gianduia bar, one of only six gold award winners in that category. It also received two silver awards in the dark bean to bar under 80% cocoa solids category for both its Acul du Nord Haiti and Gran Blanco Peru bars. “We were delighted to receive the news of our success,” owners Marina and Karl Hogarth say, “especially when we realised that all three of the chocolate bars we had entered had won awards. It’s great to be putting New Zealand-made chocolate on the map internationally. Judging by the number of entries this year, it’s clear that there is huge growth in the craft chocolate market both here and globally. We’re particularly excited that our Gianduia chocolate uses a special variety of hazelnuts grown in Nelson.” Hogarth now distributes its chocolate around New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Paris, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, with its annual turnover doubling in the past year. The Hogarths started their business prompted by a shared passion for chocolate-making and boosted by a very enthusiastic reception for the chocolate bars that they initially made in their shed at home. After setting up a certified kitchen that allowed them to sell their chocolate at Nelson’s iconic Saturday market, Karl left his career at sea and the couple both worked in their business fulltime. Less than a year later, they launched the retail brand Hogarth Craft Chocolate, which is now sought after by some of New Zealand’s finest chefs, such as Simon Gault and Josh Emett. The couple craft their chocolate from single-origin raw cacao beans through to the finished tablet. The cacao beans are purchased via direct trade with suppliers, ensuring that all Hogarth Chocolate is ethically sourced, and each chocolate product has a different level of pure cacao and a distinctive flavour reflecting its origins. The Academy of Chocolate was founded in 2005 by five of Britain’s leading chocolate professionals, united in the belief that eating fine chocolate is one of life’s great pleasures and the desire to promote a greater awareness of the difference between fine chocolate and mass-produced chocolate confectionery. This year’s awards attracted almost double the amount of entries last year, with more than 600 entries submitted for judging in the chocolate bar categories alone. Awards are given based on several rounds of blind tasting by Academy of Chocolate members, and a panel of international experts in food and chocolate. The chocolate is judged on a range of criteria including its appearance, depth of aroma, flavour and complexity. “It’s so satisfying to see people tasting and enjoying our chocolate,” the Hogarths say, “and it shows that New Zealanders are ready to embrace high-quality chocolate.” The Academy of Chocolate aims to encourage chocolate lovers to look ‘beyond the label’ to differentiate between chocolate confectionery and ‘real’ chocolate. It also places a strong emphasis on promoting understanding of the ingredients of chocolate through the chain, from bean to bar, and encourages sourcing cocoa beans from plantations and the production of chocolate in ways that are socially fair and do not damage the environment. http://acadofchoc.com/ http://hogarthchocolate.co.nz/ The cacao beans are purchased via direct trade with suppliers, ensuring that all Hogarth Chocolate is ethically sourced, and each chocolate product has a different level of pure cacao and a distinctive flavour reflecting its origins. CHOC ACCOLADE
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