World Final, 2025

Luogo: International judges, Worldwide
Date giudizio: Ottobre 8, 2025 – Novembre 4, 2025

The 2025 season World Final is now open for entries.

We are proud to announce the final round of the season for the world’s largest chocolate competition.

The World Final brings together all 2025 season’s winners from the main regional and national competitions, to be matched against the best in the world with a fresh round of judging by our panel of top global chocolate judges.

Over our thirteen seasons, we have promoted the ever-improving quality of established and new craft chocolate makers and fine chocolatiers from around the world. By recognizing the very best chocolate in the world, we aim to support truly sustainable and traceable cacao farming and of course the very best tasting chocolate.

Judging

Judging will mainly be remote, done by judges at home using our now well-established remote judging protocols, with the possibility of some local in person judging organized by our regional partners and working with our locally selected judges. This also helps us to include a wide range of top judges from our international panel.

The winners will be announced at an online ceremony on Saturday, November 8, 2025.

Important – Shipping information

For the 2025 World Finals, we are excited to introduce a new receiving process designed to make it easier for regional winners to participate in the World Final. For the first time, we will receive your entry samples in three regional hubs: Hong Kong for Asia-Pacific, Bucharest, Romania for European and Texas, USA for Americas.

Entrants from:

• the Asia-Pacific competition will ship their products to Hong Kong
• the European Open, British, DACH, Italy Mediterranean Craft Chocolatier competitions, and the European Bean-to-Bar competition will ship to Bucharest, Romania
• the Americas and Canadian Craft Chocolatier competitions will ship to Texas, USA
• the Peruvian competition will ship to Lima, Peru

After registration, all entrants will receive an email with the exact details of where to send their products. This new approach will make it easier for our regional winners to enter and will help reduce customs delays. Judging samples will be distributed to our international panel of aligned judges from each center.

As always, please follow the provided instructions and template carefully when completing your customs invoice for international shipping.  We strongly recommend sending your products as early as possible to ensure safe and timely arrival at the designated hub. Fresh products with a shorter life can be sent closer to the deadline.

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.

Judging scores and flavor profiles

All World Final entries are rejudged by our top international judges with no reference to previous scores or prizes. All entries will receive comprehensive feedback from our judging system, including the overall product score and standardised feedback statements for all products. We use our advanced interactive evaluation system for judging, which is based on the IICCT flavor profiling system. Scores are weighted to align with specialty coffee scores. Scores will be published on our website for all Grand Jury Finalists and Winners.

Eleggibilità

Entry into the World Final is by qualification through a Gold, Silver or Bronze prize win at one of our main series of national and regional competitions. (Cacao Country Support competitions and Drinking Chocolate competition are not included). All World Final entries are rejudged by our top international judges with no reference to previous scores or prizes.

Only 2025 winning products may be entered and may not be substituted for alternate products. Different batches are acceptable, as are batch variations and recipe changes that do not significantly alter the product in such a way that it would constitute a different retail product. (For example, if an ingredient is no longer available.) Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this.

Entrants’ 2025 winning products are automatically listed on your entry page when you register for the World Final, you will not have to register them again. If you need any changes to your product details, please let us know.

I costi di iscrizionesono EUR €75. Ed il costo per ogni prodotto iscritto e di EUR €65. I prezzi saranno convertiti nella moneta locale dalla vostra carta di credito se necessario.