Malagos Chocolate

Malagos Agri-Ventures Corporation (d.b.a. Malagos Chocolate) is a Philippine bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Davao City. Founders Roberto and Charita Puentespina leased cacao trees and made tablea with them. After collaborating with retailers, they partnered with the Mars Cocoa Development Center, where they learned practices pertaining to cacao. The company was commercially launched in June 2013 and had collaborations with Starbucks, The Tasting Club, AirAsia, Krispy Kreme, and other brands. They launched an international division in Canada in 2020. In 2017, a museum was founded by the brand. Four exhibits are seen in the museum, like an information area and a chocolate lab. Malagos has branches across the Philippines, with most of them in Davao.

The chocolates are made from cacao planted in farms in Davao City. The chocolate is then made into chocolate in a factory. As of 2024, they have 56 total international awards, especially for their dark chocolate and drinking chocolates. They received awards from the Academy of Chocolate; the International Chocolate Awards; the UK-based Guild of Fine Food; the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund; and the World Drinking Chocolate Competition. Malagos' beans were ranked top 50 worldwide.

History

Products and services

Malagos cultivates its own cacao at a Bureau of Plant Industry-certified farm at the foothills of Mount Talomo. They ferment, dry, sort, and roast the cacao beans they use in their production of chocolate.[17] The farm is located at Barangay Baguio District, Davao City..[18] The firm also buys beans from around 100 small-scale cocoa farmers in the Davao area[19] and supplies cacao seeds, seedlings and scions throughout Mindanao.[17] In October 2017, it was reported that Malagos Chocolate, along with other chocolate brands, would be participating in Salon du Chocolat on October 28 to November 1 in Paris, France.[20] In 2017, the Puentespinas opened the first chocolate museum in the Garden Resort.[4] Other than the museum, there are store branches in Metro Davao, and parts of Visayas and Mindanao.[21]

The company has dark chocolates, including a 65% dark chocolate bar, an 85% bar,[22] a 72% bar, and a 100% pure unsweetened chocolate.[23] They also have a salted caramel chocolate bar[24] and "cacao juices," which are made from the juice in cacao pods. According to Patricia Baes of Spot.ph, the juice has a "sweet tart flavor".[25] Their packaging used recyclable paper.[22]

Awards

They gained a total of 56 international awards as of February 2024 from the International Chocolate Awards[26] and the Academy of Chocolate Awards, an increase from 28 in 2019.[10] In April 2015, the Academy of Chocolate in London gave Malagos a bronze award for their 100% Unsweetened Chocolate.[27] In 2015, the company received a silver award for its Malagos Dark Chocolate at the International Chocolate Awards in Hannover, Germany.[6] In 2016, the products gained a two-star accolade from the UK's Guild of Fine Food.[7] In April 2015, it was awarded for the Best Unflavoured Drinking Chocolate (bronze) in the Academy of Chocolate Awards, and another recognition in October (silver) in the International Chocolate Awards.[28] Malagos garnered a bronze award each for its 62% dark chocolates and 72% dark chocolates bars in the 2017 edition of the awards.[6][29] In 2017, their beans were the top 50 best worldwide.[10] In May 2018, Malagos won five awards in the 10th Academy of Chocolate Awards in the United Kingdom.[30] The brand gained awards at the 2019 International Chocolate Awards.[31] In the 2019 Academy of Chocolate competition, Malagos received three bronze awards for the Filled Chocolate category.[32] In October 2020, the company won four gold medals in the World Drinking Chocolate Competition held in Hannover, Germany, for their Plain Dark Drinking Chocolate. The company won three other awards in special categories, like Growing Country, Chocolate Maker, and Direct Traded.[33][34][35][36] After the win, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez congratulated the company, stating, "This is a validation of our nation’s never-ending quest for excellence in the field of cacao farming and chocolate-making."[37]

See also

• Malagos Garden Resort
• Chocolate industry in the Philippines

External links