Twenty-six chocolate and confectionery companies made the Good Food Awards’ list of winners this year. The companies were among 146 other winners of the award, which was held at the Palace of Fine Arts Rotunda in San Francisco, Calif., and attended by more than 800 guests.
This year’s winners represent the best of 1,462 entries coming from 33 states in a process that began in September with a blind tasting involving 182 judges.
“Daily you defy the supposition that communities, countries, continents cannot be fed on good food,” says Sarah Weiner, founder, Good Food Awards. “Your mere existence refutes the theory that businesses must embark on unsavory practices to survive.”
Entries for the Good Food Awards face a strict vetting process to confirm that they meet sustainability requirements. On top of taste and authenticity, entrants are judged on their production processes, which must be respectful to the environment and connected to communities and cultural trends. The criteria for entries include no artificial ingredients, hormones, pesticides, herbicides or genetically modified ingredients.
“Wed to a vision of a better, more delicious world, all of you have chosen to be creators,” adds Weiner. “Beyond the not trifling feat of making something utterly delicious, what you do and the way you do it creates tighter, stronger, more just societies.”
Awardees receive not only the Good Food Awards seal, but also introductions to buyers in the industry and the opportunity to sell at the Good Food Awards marketplace.
The chocolate and confectionery awardees include:
Chocolates:
Acalli Chocolate, El Platanal (Chulucanas, Peru) 70% Dark Chocolate, Louisiana
Black Mountain Chocolate, Mountain Milk Bar, North Carolina
Charm School Chocolate, Coconut Milk Chocolate, Maryland
Dandelion Chocolate, Butuo, Liberia 70%, California
Escazu Chocolates, 70% Tumbes, Peru, North Carolina
French Broad Chocolates, 68% Nicaragua, North Carolina
Guittard Chocolate Co., Collection Etienne 45% Cacao, California
Maverick Chocolate Co., Fahrenheit 513, Ohio
Nathan Miller Chocolate, Ghana 70%, Pennsylvania
Patric Chocolate, 67% Madagascar, Black Licorice Bar & PBJ OMG, Missouri
Confections:
Arrowhead Chocolates, Espresso Truffle, Oregon
Big Picture Farm, Roasted Raspberry Rhubarb Goat Milk Caramel, Vermont
Black Dinah Chocolatiers, Cassis de Resistance, Maine
Cacao Art Chocolates, Panther Coffee Chocolate, Florida
Feve Artisan Chocolatier, Caramelized Chai Spiced Almonds, California
Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Salty Caramel Sauce, Ohio
Kakao Chocolate, Turkish Coffee Truffle, Missouri
Little Apple Granola, Apple Cider Caramels, California
Patric Chocolate, Red Coconut Curry Bar, Missouri
Sapore della Vita, Caramel Sauce,Florida
Stacy’s Sweet Spot, Bodacious Bacon Beer Brittle, Virginia
St. Croix Chocolate Co., Peanut Butter and Wild Grape Jelly Bar, Minnesota
SunnysideLOCAL Produce, Salted Orange Wheat Beer Caramels, California
Videri Chocolate Factory, Strawberry Anise Ganache, North Carolina
Xocolatl de David, Sourdough & Olive Oil Bar,Oregon
Zoe’s Chocolate Co., Yogurt Praline,Pennsylvania
The complete list of Good Food Awards winners can be found here.
