{"id":73363,"date":"2026-11-07T19:23:18","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T19:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enter.chocolateawards.com\/?p=73363"},"modified":"2026-11-08T12:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T12:22:17","slug":"world-final-2026-winners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enter.chocolateawards.com\/it\/competitions\/world-final-competitions\/world-final-2026-winners\/","title":{"rendered":"World Final 2026 – Winners"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The International Chocolate Awards is pleased to announce the Winners of the<\/strong> 2026 World Final Competition<\/strong>, which was judged remotely by our international judging panel with final Grand Jury decisions early November 2026.\u00a0<\/p>

The winners were announced by our co-founders Monica Meschini, Maricel Presilla and Martin Christy, and our Grand Juror Alex Rast.<\/p>

The event was broadcasted live on our YouTube channel<\/a>\u00a0where you can access the recording<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

Judges<\/h3>

This year, over 100 judges have worked with us throughout all the national and regional competitions. Based on our new statistical judge alignment tool, we invited 50+ of the most well-aligned judges to our World Final judging panel.<\/a> Using specially selected professional judges from all over the world, along with many of our IICCT alumni and other specialists and members of our international Grand Jury panel allowed us to evaluate each sample as thoroughly as possible and provide valuable feedback to all of our entrants.<\/p>

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All judging was anonymised, included at the Grand Jury final session, where Golds, Silver and Bronze prizes were awarded by private voting according to the Grand Jury rules.<\/p>

Click here to view the Grand Jury Finalists.<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Competition Highlights<\/h3>

The 2026 World Final Ceremony<\/strong> was organized as an online event. The main winners’ announcement was led by co-founder Martin Christy<\/strong><\/em> from Bucharest, Romania, with co-founders Monica Meschini<\/strong><\/em> and Maricel Presilla<\/strong><\/em> joining from Florence and Greater New York.\u00a0<\/p>

We were happy to see many of our GOLD<\/strong> winners coming together to watch our online ceremony and sharing the joy of winning with their family or their team.\u00a0<\/p>

Women leading craft chocolate<\/h5>

Several GOLD prizes were given out to women-led companies: Fredmerys Plaza<\/em> from Delirio Chocolate<\/strong> was awarded Gold for their 100% Venezuela, Yadira Vasquez<\/em> took home her first Gold for their own tree-to-bar micro-batch 75% Puerto Rico bar with Hacienda Chocolat<\/strong>, and Chocopunto by Mabel<\/strong> in the Dominican Republic was awarded 2 Gold prizes in this competition.\u00a0<\/p>

High-scoring products often came with a real story. No marketing fluff, but genuine connection between chocolate makers and cacao farmers. Winners expressed gratitude towards all the people whose work went into their award-winning product. Happy tears were shed by many of the winners during the ceremony.\u00a0<\/p>

The 2026 World Final<\/strong> reaffirmed that the craft chocolate industry is maturing, innovating, and expanding its definition of excellence. With so many strong entries, reaching the podium this year meant demonstrating mastery, intention, and a deep respect for cacao.<\/p>

Whether through careful fermentation, bold flavour innovation, or sustainable practice, this year’s winners reflect a vibrant, evolving industry that continues to push boundaries one bar, bonbon, and cacao bean at a time.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The 2026 World Final Winners are<\/strong>:<\/h4>