Great Taste Award Gift Box

Our Great Taste Award Gift Box features some of our favourite volcanic island growing regions and farmers.

Mindanao is the southernmost main island in the Philippines group, just inside the “Goldilocks zone” 10 degrees either side of the equator. Indeed, it's our only cocoa origin that's north of the equator. Our farmer here grows his cocoa on the slopes between Mount Apo and Davao city in fertile and tropical conditions.

Travelling to Karkar Island in Papua New Guinea is a treat for the eyes as the 40-mile across volcano rises up from the sea. Our farmers on this remote and hard to reach island are the Goodyear and Middleton families. They are both some of the main employers on the island, with farm hands having been there for generations.

Lucy on the island of Makira in the Solomons is one of our favourite farmers. Not only does she own her own land but she also exclusively hires women to help produce the cocoa, too.

The island is the most Easterly of the main island group in the Solomon Islands and has one 10 km road going from the main village, past Lucy’s farm, to the other outlying village. There is a grass landing strip, which is perhaps the best route to Makira to avoid saltwater crocodiles taking up residency along the coastline.

On to Malekula island in Vanuatu - an 8-hour boat journey from Port Vila. This tiny cocoa-growing island doesn't even register on the cocoa scale of production, which shows how rare and precious it is.

The island is known for its coconut crabs - partial to cocoanut but thankfully not to cocoa! Cocoa was introduced in the 1920s and is now a thriving local industry that we are happy and proud to support.

Our final destination in this Great Taste adventure is across the world's oceans to the east coast of Africa on the volcanic island of Madagascar.

The cocoa grown in the Sambirano Valley in the northwest of the island, benefits from a warm, wet microclimate and the shade of enormous and fast-growing hardwood trees. Our farmers here have a French legacy and still use old French bullock carts to transport the freshly-harvested cocoa pods to the farm fermentary.

Philippines Mindinao 73% Cocoa Chocolate Bar 70g:
Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, unrefined sugar, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.
Per 100g:
Energy 561 (kcal)/2326 (kj)
Fat 41g of which saturates 26g
Carbohydrates 32g of which sugars 27g
Protein 9.7g
Salt 0.02g

Papua New Guinea Karkar Island 72% Cocoa Chocolate Bar 70g:
Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, unrefined sugar, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.
Per 100g:
Energy 564 (kcal)/2341 (kj)
Fat 41g of which saturates 25g
Carbohydrates 34g of which sugars 29g
Protein 9.6g
Salt 0.02g

Madagascar Sambirano Valley 84% Cocoa Chocolate Bar 70g:
Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, unrefined sugar, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.
Per 100g:
Energy 410 (kcal)/1696 (kj)
Fat 33.4g of which saturates 21g
Carbohydrates 15g of which sugars 10.7g
Protein 7.7g
Salt 0.01g.

Solomon Islands Makira Islands 75% Cocoa Chocolate Bar 70g:
Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, unrefined sugar, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.
Per 100g:
Energy 569 (kcal)/2357 (kj)
Fat 43g of which saturates 27g
Carbohydrates 29g of which sugars 24g
Protein 9.9g
Salt 0.02g

Vanuatu Malekula Island 72% Cocoa Chocolate Thins:
Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, unrefined sugar, emulsifier: sunflower lecithin.
Per 100g:
Energy 564 (kcal)/2341 (kj)
Fat 41g of which saturates 25g
Carbohydrates 34g of which sugars 29g
Protein 9.6g
Salt 0.02g

Manufactured on equipment that also processes milk and nuts. Dairy Free. Suitable for vegans. Kosher certified. Allergens in bold.