GMA Brandtalk
Tracking
Archives
6 Philippine-made chocolate brands
Who doesn’t love chocolate? Lucky for us, the Philippines is one of the places where cacao, the plant that produces a fermented and fatty seed used for making chocolate, is harvested.
With efforts from the Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Agriculture to strengthen the Philippine cacao industry, we have no doubt that we’ll have quality supply to last us for years.
To usher in Independence Day, we're highlighting a few locally-made chocolate brands made and available in the Philippines. How best to celebrate our independence by loving your own?
True Chocolate
A post shared by True Chocolate (@truechocolateph) on
This small home-based business was borne out of Treena Tecson’s passion and hobby of chocolate making. She creates her truffles and bars by hand from Belgian couverture chocolate in small batches using the best ingredients available, including locally-sourced cacao from her province Negros Occidental.
She shares with us, “It is my goal to offer high quality chocolate creations using both imported and local chocolate. I welcome the opportunity to work with our farmers and help create livelihood for them.”
In the future, Treena hopes to create a local bean-to-bar chocolate.
Hot-tip: Try True Chocolate’s nutty dark chocolate truffles and dark chocolate bars. Website. Instagram.
Tigre Y Oliva
A post shared by Tigre Y Oliva (@tigreyolivachocolate) on
Made from locally-sourced ingredients, Tigre Y Oliva is the first to highlight single-origin Philippine chocolate from different areas.
Tigre Y Oliva’s Roberto Crisostomo tells us, “The cacao comes from farms around the Philippines. This year’s current selection is from the Davao region. We are likely to have other local origins in the near future.”
He says, “Similar to wine, the variety and surrounding environment where the crop grows are a major contributor to taste. We selected micro-origins which exhibited interesting taste profiles and characteristics.”
Since they source their cacao straight from the farmers, you know that what you’re getting in your bar is fresh. They use equipment from the US and Italy “where they have long traditions of chocolate craftsmanship and culture of chocolate eating.”
Hot-tip: Try their dark chocolate espresso bar and coconut milk bar. Facebook. Instagram.
Malagos Chocolate
Malagos Chocolate has long been a source of pride and joy for the country; most recently, it was the party favor given to ASEAN wives during the previous November meet.
its story begins in Malagos, in the Baguio District of Davao. Coming from a family-owned business that deals with agriculture, founders Roberto and Charita Puentespina ventured into the cacao farming in 2003.
Jamie Concepcion of Malagos Chocolate says their chocolate is made from tree to bar. Everything from planting the cacao tree to harvesting the fruit and creating chocolate from the cacao seed are done in Malagos. She tells us, ”We have full control on the process where quality is of top priority. The beans, after being fermented and dried, are sorted and only Grade A Trinitario cacao beans are made to become the chocolate.”
You might be familiar with their unsweetened chocolate that can be used for hot chocolate, desserts, and other baked goodies. Their unsweetened chocolate has won 5 international awards including 2017 One Star Accolade from Great Taste Awards in the UK.
They are currently working on incorporating other local flavors into their products and will release them this year. Website. Instagram.
Risa Chocolate
A post shared by Risa Chocolate (@risachocolates) on
What first started as happiness shared between family and friends, turned into a passion shared with others. Risa Chocolate prides itself in creating handcrafted chocolate made with the finest ingredients but more importantly with a lot of heart.
Their single-origin bars are made from South Cotabato cacao beans, which have a light caramel flavor.
Try their bacon chili chocolate, brown butter milk chocolate with hazelnuts, and cerveza negra truffles. Website. Instagram.
Hiraya
A post shared by Hiraya Chocolates (@hirayachocolates) on
'Hiraya Manawari' is an ancient Tagalog phrase that means hopes and dreams fulfilled. Hiraya was named such because their products “bring joy to people, imparted with all the love, care, and passion from the moment of its creation.” The brand fosters a relationship with the farmers of Barangay Malabog, which is two hours away from Davao, where their cocoa is harvested.
This bean-to-bar chocolate fuses other local favorites into their bars. They also offer a unique chocolate tasting experience (which can be scheduled through their website) in keeping with their thrust of being an advocate for sustainable and socially-conscious practices.
Try their coconut (chocolate with coconut milk and roasted coconuts), coffee nibs (dark chocolate with coffee nibs), and chicharon (spicy dark chocolate with crunchy pork rinds) flavors. Website. Instagram.
Theo and Philo
A post shared by Theo and Philo (@theoandphilo) on
Theo and Philo is literally chocolate and love. Theobrama cocoa is the scientific name of the cacao tree, while philos is Greek for the word love.
Philo Chua, who is behind the brand, wanted to introduce the homegrown chocolate to the world. Theo and Philo uses high-quality ingredient sourced from different areas in the Philippines such as cacao beans from Davao and sugar from Bacolod
They offer interesting flavors to complement their dark and milk chocolate varieties such as calamansi, green mango and salt, labuyo, ginger and mint, black sesame, pili nut and pinipig, turon, barako coffee, and even adobo.
Try the mini sampler box to get a taste of six of their currently available flavors. Website. Instagram.
— LA, GMA News
