Barry Callebaut's Terra Cacao chocolate can now add “award-winning” to its title.

The product was the winner of the FI Confectionery Innovation of the Year Excellence Award as well as the Most Innovative Food Ingredient Award.

"Winning two of these prestigious awards exceeds our highest expectations,” says Sofie De Lathouwer, marketing director food manufacturers products region Europe with Barry Callebaut. “Obviously our Terra Cacao range is an answer to our customer's demands, but [this] is also a huge motivation for us to continue striving to make a perfect chocolate."

Terra Cacao was originally launched in February 2011 and relies on new cocoa cultivation and fermentation methods developed by Barry Callebaut in collaboration with local cocoa growers.

This process produces zero-defect beans and avoids off flavors, resulting in a 100% “purest in its kind”cocoa beans as an ingredient for superior chocolate, with an unprecedented harmony of pure tastes and rich aromas.

For Terra Cacao, Barry Callebaut searches for plantations on flavor-enhancing terroirs in equatorial regions. The cocoa beans are then handpicked only at the precise moment when they contain a maximum of flavors and aromas.

Then, the cocoa is fermented with the company's 100% natural method that respects and enhances even the most delicate flavors and aromas. Afterwards, the beans are roasted in their shells until they release all of their inherent flavors. And finally, the chocolate is conched, fully preserving the right texture, aroma, taste and flavors.

"This award is the reward for years of painstaking research,” says Nicholas Camu, fermentation innovation manager at Barry Callebaut. “Terra Cacao started with a study at the University, but quickly became an interesting and passionate challenge until Barry Callebaut reached its goal: a cocoa of an unseen top quality, cultivated in a sustainable way and thus resulting in a superior-tasting chocolate.

"Winning this award shows that not only our customers appreciate the outcome of the project, but also a jury of industry experts and specialists," he adds.

The Terra Cacao range covers several milk and dark chocolate references varying from 33.5% to 70.5% cocoa mass. The product, which comes shaped as callets, is packed in 10-kg bags and will be available to industrial customers worldwide.

For more information on Terra Cacao http://www.terracacao.com/ for more information on Barry Callebaut, visit www.barry-callebaut.com.