Russian manufacturer of wholesome chocolate Mojo Cacao won second place at The International Chocolate Awards-2019, which took place in Guatemala last November.

The brand was able to reach the world finals thanks to winning the European stage of the competition in June. "Its white cashew chocolate with vegetable milk and Cookie cookie flavour won the gold medal. It was this flavour that competed for the title of best chocolate in the category "White Chocolate Bars with Inclusions or Pieces".

"We were competing against representatives of the best traditional chocolates, whose recipes, by and large, have remained unchanged for decades. They still use sugar, milk and lecithin. Our victory is a new look at the criteria of quality chocolate. So the Cookie win is a double win for Mojo," commented Mojo Cacao founder Eugenia Tsyrlin on participating in the competition.

The International Chocolate Awards competition was founded in 2012 by independent experts from Italy, the USA and the UK, who have had years of experience in tasting, evaluating and teaching the chocolate craft. The prestigious competition is judged by tasters, confectioners, bloggers and chefs from around the world. The aim of the competition is to encourage and support companies that make chocolate from selected ingredients.

About the company

Founded in 2016, Mojo Cacao is one of the popular healthy chocolate brands in Russia. The company is responsible for the full production cycle, from the selection of elite varieties of cocoa beans, roasting, separation, melting on stone millstones, to shaping into a chocolate bar and packaging the finished product.

The brand's position is to produce chocolate that everyone can eat, for this reason no animal products, gluten or GMOs are present in any product. Information on checking chocolate composition is made publicly available for everyone to see for themselves.

Eugenia Tsyrlin, who founded the company, started her business with a simple passion for healthy food: finding no suitable alternative to ordinary chocolate, she decided to make it herself. The idea behind the brand is to combine healthfulness, taste and aesthetics in a finished product.

Products

Mojo Cacao is an innovative product that satisfies the highest taste requirements, with strictly controlled production cycles. All products are based exclusively on vegetable ingredients, with no refined products, dairy fats, emulsifiers or additives.

The Mojo Cacao range presents a wide choice for every taste. The main components of each product are still nuts, dried fruits, spices and selected cocoa beans of the highest quality. The company is constantly looking for new ideas, so along with traditional additives, popcorn or habanero hot peppers can also be found in its chocolate.

The company produces three types of chocolate: bitter, milk and white.

Besides, the chocolate is available in several varieties: 80g mono bars, 20g mini bars, chocolate with nut paste, chocolate and nut bars, chocolate and nut sweets, chocolate and nut sweets "Aoki", dried fruits in chocolate, salted caramel in milk and bitter chocolate, cashew-based chocolate and nut paste, figs in double chocolate.

Plans

In 2020, Mojo Cacao has expanded its production capacity to 800 sqm. In addition, the company's capacity was increased 3 times, creating new jobs. Automation and modernization was also carried out in accordance with all requirements of ISO 22000 (a series of international standards for food safety management systems).

After the pandemic period is over, the plan is to enter into cooperation with the largest retailer Auchan, coffee chain Starbucks, internet sites Beru, Ozon, Wildberries, as well as with small health food stores.

In addition, Mojo Cacao, a producer of healthy candies and chocolates, intends to open two branded points of sale of its own products in Moscow in autumn 2020.

The first outlet will be a full-fledged boutique, which will be located in the area of the capital's largest food mall "DEPO". The second outlet will open at the company's chocolate factory. Its guests will have a chance not only to get acquainted with the entire range of Mojo Cacao, but also to see how healthy chocolate is made by visiting the factory and having a tasting.

At present the products of the Mojo Cacao brand can be found in large retailers ("Azbuka Vkusa", "Perekrestok", "Garden City", "Ambar"), in dozens of retail stores of healthy food ("Sweet Shop", "Warm Shelf"), MISHA FISHER restaurant and the shop of healthy food "Green Point", PIZZA ItaLiana pizzeria, THE STREET MARKET in Moscow City, Mint Market bio food store, Flora Delivery florist shop, Hudson Deli restaurant, Biostoria bio and farm products online store, and SML, Taste and Color and Profile Pro cafes. In addition, the Russian manufacturer of healthy chocolate is represented by the distributor of imported products in France Kosak Paris and in the store "Spicy Moon" in Minsk.