Photos and Results from the 2022 NZ Vegan Chocolate Awards

The inaugural NZ Vegan Chocolate Awards have taken place!
On Friday 29th April 2022, The Butchers Son venue in Auckland was a hive of sweet activity as esteemed judges – Food and beverage judge – Aaron Pucci, Chocolate expert – Luke Owen Smith, Chef – Jasbir (Jazz) Kaur and Pastry chef + cake maker – Sara Kidd checked out our chocolate entrants across 6 categories.

Our amazing judges volunteered their time to eat their way through over 100 types of chocolate non-stop for three and a half hours at our inaugural Vegan Chocolate Awards @thebutchersson

Now this job is actually WAY harder than it sounds! You mustn’t get full in order to compare as many 36 types of chocolate in one category, which means keeping your palate clean and keen, before moving on the next category!

Judge Jasbir “Jazz” Kaur 
“It was an amazing event and no one could ever think they were all vegan chocolate, many competitors had the desirable features of classic chocolate- for example that meltability, the quality of the chocolate coating your tongue and leaving you wanting more. While others had structural integrity, silky liquefying characteristics and were very innovative.”

Results

Supreme Winner

Foundry Fine Craft Chocolate; Kilombero Valley Tanzania
Comments
Our judges were so impressed just two ingredients could create such lingering flavours and incredible complexity of flavours – depth and quality.

Dark chocolate bars

Winner
Wellington Chocolate Factory; Peru Dark
Judges’ comments
Super smooth, no bitterness. Great mouth feel, beautiful temper and very appealing aroma

Runner Up
Lucid Chocolatier; VRAE Dark
Judges’ comments
Smooth and great continuous flavour.

Milk chocolate bars

Winner
Wellington Chocolate Factory; Coconut Milk
Judges’ comments
Colour, aroma and shine were excellent.

Runner Up
Vego; Whole hazelnut
Judges’ comments
Smooth finish. Great mouth feel. Enjoyable flavour.

Bean to Bar

Winner
Foundry Fine Craft Chocolate; Kilombero Valley Tanzania
Judges’ Comments
Amazing depth of flavour. Perfect, beautiful texture. Fantastic complex nuance.

Runner Up
Lucid; Earl Grey
Judges’ comments
Amazing complexity of flavours. Delicate silky-smooth texture. Fascinating flavour – so much going on.

Filled Chocolate Bon bons or Truffles

Winner
Mind Your Temper; Raspberry Cheesecake
Judges’ Comments
Perfect shine and design. Excellent Colour usage as representation of what to expect for flavour. Not too sweet. Great tempering and execution of flavour and texture.

Runner Up
Schoc; Passionfruit Coconut
Judges’ comments
A fresh perspective on flavour and design. The shine and execution was lovely. Well-balanced flavour.

Caramel

Winner
Honest Chocolate; Sea Salt Caramel
Judges’ Comments
Excellent Caramel flavour and mouth feel. Perfect salt balance. Great temper.

Runner Up
Mind Your Temper; Caramel Dragees
Judges’ comments
Great chewy caramel texture. Long palette but not too sweet. Innovative design.

Bars; flavoured / inclusions

Winner
Flint; Almond Butter
Judges’ Comments
Beautiful depth and texture. Complex, subtle with smooth melting in the mouth.

Runners Up
Bennetto; Raspberries in Dark Chocolate
Judges’ comments
Vibrant! Great raspberry flavour. Well made. Fresh, bright. Great base chocolate. Very morish!

Wellington Chocolate Factory; Anzac
Judges’ comments
Great combination of flavours. High quality ingredients. Rich coconut and crisp inclusions.

Drinking Chocolate

Winner
Bennetto; Superfood Drinking Chocolate
Judges’ Comments
Good depth, strong chocolate flavour. Good after taste.

Runner Up
Wellington Chocolate Factory; Drinking Chocolate
Judges’ comments
Good balance. Pleasant flavour.

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