At the virtual Cocoa of Excellence 2021 Awards ceremony on 16 December 2021, in Italy, the Roods and Perches sample (Commercial Sample No. 1120201701 – CoEx Sample Code: 353/21), received a Silver Award, one of two silver awards presented to producers from Trinidad and Tobago.
The 2021 Edition of the Cocoa of Excellence Awards recognised 16 Gold, 17 Silver, and 17 Bronze awardees in the four global cocoa- producing regions of the world. C
Check out our local and international winners here
COCOA OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS
The process
Fifty-three (53) cocoa producing regions participated in the 2021 Edition of the Cocoa of Excellence Awards.
Two hundred and thirty-five (235) cocoa bean samples were received, assigned a blind code, and evaluated.
Of these, two hundred and thirty-four) 234 cocoa bean samples were processed into cocoa liquor and evaluated blindly by the eleven members of the Cocoa of Excellence Technical Committee, a panel of international experts in sensory evaluation.
From the liquor evaluation, the Best 50 high quality cocoa samples were selected to represent the four global cocoa-producing regions.
Trinidad and Tobago is in the Central America and Caribbean Region.
The sample from Roods and Perches was among the Best 50 high quality liquor samples.
The liquor samples were then processed into a dark chocolate, tempered, and molded. The Best 50 samples were evaluated blindly by the Cocoa of Excellence Technical Committee and a larger panel of 39 experts and professional chocolate makers.
The Cocoa of Excellence Programme was started in 2009, by the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), to recognise cocoa quality and flavour diversity in the production of cocoa.
The Cocoa of Excellence Award is a global competition to recognise the work of cocoa farmers and celebrate the diversity of cocoa flavours across the different cocoa producing regions of the world.
To participate in the competition, cocoa farmers have to submit a sample of 5kgs of well-prepared, fermented, and dried beans to their local National Organizing Committee (NOC).
In Trinidad and Tobago, the NOC is the Cocoa Development Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (CDCTTL).
The bean sample is evaluated locally for physical, whole, and cut bean sensory qualities.
The Roods and Perches sample received 2nd place in the local leg of the competition and was selected to represent T&T at the international competition in Italy.
Roods & Perches Cocoa Estate 