Competitions are important to improve cocoa growing and chocolate quality. Internationally the gold standard is the Cocoa of Excellence program.

Charley's has been an active participant in this competition. Charley's was a winner at the Cocoa of Excellence in 2017 and 2019. A great achievement - you can read all about our awards here.

Then the rules were changed so that past winners could not enter. A good way to encourage others.

In 2021 the competition awards ceremony was held in Rome with Grant Vinning, who has attended in previous years, reporting that:

Papua New Guinea and Australia growers were shortlisted for the final fifty of the Cocoa of Excellence program. This is the World Cup of Cocoa. The three were:

• Darryl Kirk, Shannonvale, at Mossman in Far North Queensland
• Jeffery Banaga, Popondetta, Ijivitari District, Momase Region in Papua New Guinea
• The Kubu DPI Research Station at Buka in the PNG Autonomous Region of Bougainville

This meant that another three producers from our region can rightfully claim to be in the top fifty cocoa producers in the world.

The final results were announced from Rome on 16th December 2021.

• Darryl Kirk and Jeffery Banaga were awarded Bronze.
• The Kubu Research Station was awarded Gold. This means that Kubu cocoa is ranked in the top 17 cocoas in the world. This places them alongside the traditional giants of the cocoa world from Central America the home of cocoa, and Africa that produces over 70 percent of the world cocoa. And Charley's.

At the final count the Asia Pacific region to which Bougainville belongs in the Cocoa of Excellence’s organisational chart produced eight Gold. This is more Gold than the other three regions.

There is a great deal of technical detail that the Cocoa of Excellence provides to its finalists. They said about the Kubu sample:

‘Starts with cocoa flavour and a peak of acidity, some red fruits and nuts. The acidity goes down and a very balanced core attributes-base forms, with more nuts, some fresh fruit, hints of flowers and spices. Finish is nutty and cocoa-based. Sweet, nut flesh, orange blossom and dried fruit notes. A cocoa mainly characterized by its harmony of core attributes and the outstanding nutty aroma. Exhibits some complexity.’

Congratulations to all three producers, especially James Butubu and his team from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research project that produced such a wonderful cocoa. For those of you interested in the way the judges assess the cocoa, here is the flavour wheel they use.

Charley's sources beans from Darryl for its Shannonvale single origin dark chocolate.