Academy of Chocolate Awards for Northern Ireland Chocolatier

CoCouture, Northern Ireland's gourmet chocolatier, has won two major awards from the recent prestigious Academy of Chocolate.

The artisan company, based in Belfast, gained a gold award in the Best Flavoured Dark Bar category for its Orange Blend 3 and bronze in the Hot Chocolate - Best Unflavoured category. It already supplies its luxurious truffles and bars to high-end retailers including the Liberty store in central London.

CoCouture, formed in 2008 by trained chef Deirdre McCanny, also struck gold gold for its honeycomb bar in the 'Best Flavoured Milk Chocolate Bar' category and bronze for its rum and raisin bar in the 'Best Flavoured Dark Chocolate Bar' category in the 2009 competition.

The latest Academy of Chocolate awards follow Co Couture's success in winning a series of Great Taste Awards in 2010. The small company also opened a shop in Belfast city centre last year.

Deirdre McCanny, commenting of the 2011 Academy of Chocolate awards, said: "It's marvellous to be recognised once again by such a distinguished judging panel. The awards are a tremendous endorsement of the quality and innovation which underpins CoCouture chocolates.

"The awards will help attract new customers and encourage me to develop my focus on innovation including the hot chocolate product.

"Chocolate lovers throughout the UK and Ireland are looking increasingly for the unique taste experience that handcrafted truffles and bars provide."

CoCouture was among almost 500 chocolatiers which entered new products in the award's 14 categories in the awards. In keeping with the aims of the academy, criteria for the awards are that products contain natural ingredients with no artificial flavourings and colourings.

The Academy of Chocolate was set up in 2005 by five of Britain's leading chocolate professionals to promote fine chocolate. The academy encourages chocolate lovers to 'look beyond the label' to differentiate between chocolate confectionary and 'real' chocolate;

The Academy of Chocolate awards is now an important event in the chocolate calendar with entries sent in from all over the world.