The best artisanal chocolate and cocoa-derived products will be revealed this Saturday night at Chocolat Xingu
Producers and chocolatiers who are part of the program taking place in the municipality of Altamira can participate.
The best artisanal chocolate and cocoa and chocolate-derived products will be revealed this Saturday night (28), at the International Cocoa and Chocolate Festival, which is being promoted by the State Government, through the Secretary of Agricultural Development and Fisheries (Sedap) and the Municipal Government of Altamira. The competition is coordinated by the Center for the Valorization of Bioactive Compounds of the Amazon (CVACBA), belonging to the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and located in the Guamá Science and Technology Park.
For the first time, a competition will be held encompassing cocoa and chocolate-derived products, as explained by Professor Jesus Souza, coordinator of the center. The goal is also to value these products, similar to what already happens with fine chocolate. These are products that have as highlighted ingredients in their composition the pulp, honey, or cocoa beans and intense or milk chocolate. These ingredients must be produced by companies and with Pará raw materials. Examples of products that can participate in this category include truffles, sweets, jams, chocolates, and dragees.
In the case of beverages, which are also being included for the first time in a festival competition, they can be alcoholic and non-alcoholic ready for consumption, which have as highlighted ingredients in their composition the pulp, honey, or cocoa beans and/or chocolate.
"These ingredients must be produced by companies and Pará raw materials. Examples of products that can participate in this category: refreshing drink, liqueur, beer, honey wine or cocoa pulp, soft drinks, ready-to-drink juices. All these beverages, including beer, must be produced in Pará to compete," explained the professor, as stated in the regulations.
The competition aims, as Jesus explained, to encourage and strengthen the cocoa production chain in the State of Pará, stimulating companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop products that have cocoa and chocolate as highlighted ingredients, produced in the state itself.
Categories- The competition is divided into four categories: the first is Intense artisanal chocolate, bean-to-bar chocolate (minimum of 60% cocoa); the second category is Milk artisanal chocolate, milk bean-to-bar chocolate (minimum of 35% cocoa), the third category is cocoa or chocolate-based products, and the fourth is the category of beverage derived from cocoa or chocolate.
Innovation - Registrations closed on Friday. During the first day of the Chocolate Xingu Festival, many producers sought the CVACBA booth to register or ask questions. "We bring these expertise to conduct the competition because the purpose of the center is to perform quality control of samples and develop the cocoa production chain along with the research we do. We bring this incentive to chocolatiers or to companies that produce derivatives, to innovate in their products each time, but in a way that we can recognize this innovation and this recognition is through the competition," informed the coordinator.
