Una empresa canadiense gana premio como mejor chocolate del mundo que es de RD

La empresa Almonte’s tiny Hummingbird Chocolate ha sido galardonada con el mejor chocolate en barra del mundo.

En una ceremonia organizada por la Academia de chocolate en Londres el fin de semana, la barra Hispaniola de Hummingbird superó a otros 14 ganadores del oro del mundo para ganar el codiciado premio “Golden Bean”, la primera compañía canadiense en ganar el prestigioso premio.

“Pensamos que era tan poco probable que ganaríamos, nos habíamos olvidado por completo la entrega de premios” dijo Erica Gilmour, quien inició la compañía con su marido Drew, en 2011. “Nos dimos cuenta la noche anterior que habíamos ganado, nos hubiera gustado poder tomado un avión a Londres”.
El premio, un grano de oro sobre un pedestal, será enviado a Gilmours.

Su barra Hispaniola, hecho con granos de cacao orgánico de la República Dominicana, superó a dichas empresas de peso pesado mundial de chocolate como Akesson de Inglaterra, Amedei de Italia y Michel Cluizel de Francia. Se han introducido más de 580 chocolates diferentes de todo el mundo en la primera etapa de la competición, en la primavera, y fueron juzgados por más de 40 expertos de chocolate. Además una barra de oro Hispaniola, Hummingbird también ganó tres de plata y una de bronce en los premios.

Mientras Hummingbird ahora fabrica barras de diferentes países, fueron los granos de cacao de la hispaniola, la isla del Caribe que incluye Haití y la República Dominicana, que primero convenció a Drew Gilmour, ex trabajador de ayuda, que pusieran a prueba la fabricación de chocolate
Los Gilmours, que viven en Stittsville, son ex trabajadores de ayuda internacional; lo que importan granos de cacao directamente de los agricultores en la República Dominicana, Nicaragua, Guatemala y Vietnam.

“Por eso estamos tan agradecidos por la excelente cacao cultivado por los agricultores en el norte de República Dominicana”.

Leer completo aquí: Ottawa Citizen

Local chocolate wins best in the world

Almonte’s tiny Hummingbird Chocolate company has been awarded the best bean-to-bar chocolate in the world.

At a ceremony put on by the Academy of Chocolate in London on the weekend, Hummingbird’s Hispaniola bar beat out 14 other world gold winners to win the coveted “Golden Bean” award, the first Canadian company to win the prestigious award.

“We thought it was so unlikely that we would win, we had entirely forgotten about the awards ceremony,” said Erica Gilmour, who started the company with her husband, Drew, in 2011. “When we found out the night before that we had won, we wished we could have hopped on a plane to London.”

Hummingbird Chocolate Maker of Almonte won the world Golden Bean Award on the weekend of July 8.

The award, a golden bean on a pedestal, will be shipped to the Gilmours.

Their Hispaniola bar, made with organic cacao beans from the Dominican Republic, beat out such world chocolate heavyweight companies as Akesson’s of England, Amedei of Italy and Michel Cluizel of France. More than 580 different chocolates from around the world were entered in the first stage of the competition, in the spring, and were judged by more than 40 chocolate experts. In addition to Gold for its Hispaniola bar, Hummingbird also won three silvers and a bronze at those awards.

While Hummingbird now makes bars from several different countries, it was cacao beans from Hispaniola, the Caribbean island that includes Haiti and the Dominican Republic, that first convinced Drew Gilmour, a former aid worker, that they should try making chocolate.

“What I love about this award is that these were the first beans we ever made chocolate from, in our basement,” said Erica Gilmour on Monday. “I guess we have an intimate knowledge of them.”

The Academy of Chocolate said in a news release that a record 14 gold-medal winners shows “just how much the quality of bean-to-bar (chocolate) has improved.

“Out of this impressive line up of great chocolates, the Golden Bean went to the highest scoring entry, Hummingbird Chocolate’s Hispaniola 70% (which was) universally praised by the jury.”

The Gilmours, who live in Stittsville, are former international aid workers; they import cacao beans directly from farmers in the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Vietnam, paying farmers more than fair trade prices, then make their chocolate bars using old-fashioned, hands-on techniques.

“While we have had a hand in things, good chocolate is all about great beans,” said Drew Gilmour. “That’s why we are so grateful for the outstanding cacao grown by farmers in northern Dominican Republic.”

The company has repeatedly outgrown its manufacturing spaces and recently moved in Almonte to the 2,000-square-foot former home of Equator Coffee, another Ottawa Valley company devoted to paying farmers more than fair trade prices.

Hummingbird chocolate bars are now carried by about 50 Ottawa-area stores.