British Craft Chocolate Competition, 2026

Wettbewerbsort: London, United Kingdom
Teilnahmeschluss: März 21, 2026
Datum des Wettbewerbs: April 8, 2026 – April 25, 2026

Our 3rd annual competition entirely devoted to British craft chocolate makers working from bean-to-bar and to craft chocolatiers using origin traceable chocolate. The competition celebrates the new wave of British chocolate artisans who respect the flavour, origin and sourcing of the cacao in their chocolate. The competition includes all categories of products from plain and flavoured bars to filled chocolates and ganaches, plus craft cocoa powder and cocoa butter.

The „British Craft Chocolate“ awards celebrates the new wave of British chocolate, respecting the ‚bean‘ – the flavour, origin and sourcing of the cacao used for the chocolate.  Winners will go directly to the International Chocolate Awards 2026 World Final.

Origin Traceability

The International Chocolate Awards is committed to supporting economically, socially and environmentally sustainable cacao farming where farmers are paid a reasonable price that reflects the work that goes into growing fine cacao. We also believe that the chocolate with the best flavor profiles comes from directly sourced fine cacao.

As a result, all entrants must provide details of the cacao origin used in their dark and milk chocolate entries, including chocolatiers. These details are given confidentially if preferred. White chocolate and cocoa butter are currently excluded from these requirements, except for unflavoured white chocolate products.

By ‘origin,’ we mean a known region, area, district, or farm recognized as a source of fine cacao. If the origin is not a single farm or cooperative, entrants must specify the cacao sources within the origin. Blends are acceptable if they use no more than three different named origins, including cooperatives, post-harvest centres, commercial farmers, research stations, or individual farms. We do not accept entries where the only specified origin is the cacao-growing country, except for smaller cacao-producing countries (under 4,000 tonnes per year).

These rules apply to all chocolate used in competition entries, including filled chocolates, spreads, and drinking chocolate. Products made with commercial couverture chocolate without a stated cacao origin are not eligible to enter. Details of the origin must be obtained from the chocolate maker or supplier if the entrant is not the chocolate maker.

For full details, please refer to our competition rules.

Remote judging for all products

Judging for this competition will be remote. Entries will be repacked as blinded samples and judged by our panel of judges and members of our international Grand Jury. Reference sets of each submission will be held at the receiving venue in case of any issue with the samples sent to judges and products will be blinded as usual.

Winners of this competition will pass through to the World Final, which will be held in October – November 2026.

Winners’ Announcement Ceremony, 2 May in Bordeaux, France at Show/Colat Festival (details tbc)

Winners of the competition will be announced live at a ceremony organized in Bordeaux, France at Show/Colat Festival on Saturday, 2 May 2026. More details soon.
Please get in touch with us by email if you are interested in participating.

Qualifikation

This competition is open to all companies with their main base or head office in the United Kingdom for all filled chocolates, covered nuts and fruits and spreads made from bean-to-bar and couverture chocolate and for flavoured bars made from couverture, where the entrant is not the chocolate maker. This competition also judges plain/origin and flavoured bars made with the entrants own bean-to-bar chocolate.

Die Teilnahmegebühr für den Wettbewerb ist £65 zuzüglich £60 für jedes zu bewertende Produkt. (Eine mögliche Umrechnung in die lokale Währung erfolgt durch den Kreditkartenabrechnungsstelle – sofern nötig).