Inaugural Fijian Cocoa Competition selects best samples for International Cocoa Awards Post Title

Fiji held its first ever cocoa competition to select the best 3 flavorful cocoa to participate at the 2019 International Cocoa Awards. The competition was held at Vanua Chocolate Café that also includes a bean to bar chocolate factory adjacent to the café.
The competition was supported by Ministry of Agriculture in Fiji in partnership with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Pacific Community (SPC). The competition was based on guidelines of the International Cocoa Awards program, that included sample bean testing followed by chocolate liquor testing and the beans were all blind tested.
Out of the seven samples judged , Arif Khan’s cocoa bean sample from Vanua Levu, won the competition, with Manoa Raika , also from Vanua Levu coming second and farmer Iowane Kalou, who’s beans are processed by Cacao Fiji took the third place respectively.
The winning entries will be couriered to Paris, France, where they will be in consideration for the global Cocoa of Excellence Programme, and potentially be nominated for the 2019 International Cocoa Awards, the Salon du Chocolat.