The International Chocolate Awards is pleased to announce the Winners of the Scandinavian Craft Chocolatier competition, which was judged in-person in Bordeaux, France on 30 April and 1 May 2026 at the Show/Colat Festival.
The winners’ announcement was held at Show/Colat in Bordeaux, France on Saturday, 2nd May during a fun live event where many of our entrants came together to celebrate award-winning European craft chocolate. Our co-founders Monica Meschini and Martin Christy hosted the event together with Grand Jury members and some of our local judges.
Winners of this rounds will pass through to the World Final organized in October-November 2026.
This craft competition awards prizes for craft chocolatier products including filled chocolates/bonbons, pralines, enrobed fruits and nuts and chocolate spreads made with bean-to-bar chocolate as well as flavoured bars made with couverture.
Plain/origin and flavoured bean-to-bar products from European chocolate makers were judged at the 2026 European, Middle Eastern and African Bean-to-Bar Competition in April 2026.
Judges
The judges were drawn from local experts, food journalists, our IICCT Alumni and members of our permanent international Grand Jury.
Prizes
The categories judged included filled chocolates, enrobed fruits and nuts and chocolate spreads, as well as flavoured bars (not bean-to-bar). All judging is anonymized, including at the Grand Jury final session, where Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes are awarded by private voting.
Awards are awarded only to entries that meet the required standard for each prize.
The 2026 Scandinavian Craft Chocolatier Winners are:
(Prizes are shown in score order for each medal)
Ganaches, palets, ganache pralines and truffles
Flavoured dark chocolate ganaches or truffles
Silver: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Cardemomme Dark Chocolate Ganache (87.5) (**)
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Coffee Ganache (86.6) (**)
Flavoured milk chocolate ganaches or truffles
Bronze: Gånsviks Choklad (Sweden) – Anais (86.7) (**)
Flavoured white chocolate ganaches or truffles
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – ABSINTHE (85.9) (**)
Flavoured ganaches or truffles with combination coating or filling
Silver: Gånsviks Choklad (Sweden) – Magnus (87.1) (**)
+ Special: Local ingredients
Bronze: Ett kilo socker (Sweden) – Vätternrundan (85.7)
Nuts
Milk chocolate dragées, enrobed whole nuts
Silver: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Liquorice Dragée (87.1) (**)
+ Special: Reinterpretation
Caramels
Dark chocolate enrobed caramels
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Star Anise Caramel (85.7) (**)
Milk chocolate enrobed caramels
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Winter Caramel (86.6) (**)
Others – fruit/sugar/butter/cream/misc
Dark chocolate enrobed manon/butter/cream
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Jamaica Rum (86.1) (**)
White chocolate enrobed manon/butter/cream
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Rhubarb Creme (85.8) (**)
Bronze: Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) – Sour Cherry Creme (85.5) (**)
(*) Declared chocolate maker for private label bars.
(**) Winner has declared the product is made with their own bean-to-bar chocolate or couverture.
