Chocolate makers Foundry Chocolate has won three Gold medals and a total of nine medals at the Global Academy of Chocolate Awards 2023.
The prized event is for chocolate makers from across the globe and this year there were over 1,400 products entered from around the world.
In the premiere “Plain Dark Chocolate Bar” category, two out of the 22 Gold medals awarded went to Foundry Chocolate, for its Kilombero Valley - Tanzania 70% and Semuliki Forest - Uganda 70% chocolate bars.
In the Chocolate Drinks category, the company managed to pick up gold for its Kilombero Valley - Tanzania – drinking chocolate.
Foundry Chocolate then went on to be awarded a further four Silver medals and two Bronzes for its single-origin craft chocolate in the prestigious awards.
These results follow Foundry Chocolate’s recent expansion into new premises in Silverdale, Auckland to keep up with increased demand for its products.
Foundry Chocolates co-founder David Herrick was ecstatic about the awards.
“We are utterly blown away by these results.
“To have this level of international acknowledgment for our craft and be recogniesd among the best in the world is absolutely amazing and absolutely where we want to be,” Herrick says.
“This is recognition of the constant work we are doing to hone our craft, our investment in equipment, and our investment in the time we’ve dedicated to continually learning, testing, and improving,” Herrick says.
Foundry’s plain chocolate bar process uses only two ingredients, cacao beans and organic sugar, to make dark chocolate with a myriad of flavour notes ranging from honey to ripe tropical fruit, warm spices to hints of caramel.
Their beans are sourced from parts of the world known for their cacao.
These include Tanzania, Uganda, Peru, Vanuatu, India, and Mexico, and the beans are handled to produce flavours that Herrick says must be tasted to be believed.
“You can never trust a chef who does not taste their cooking,” Herrick says.