Overview:
A year after being crowned with a silver medal, AYITIKA once again distinguished itself during the fourth edition of the chocolate competition for excellence organized by the Agency for the Valorization of Agricultural Products (AVPA). The Haitian company specializing in the production and processing of cocoa received a Gourmet-Silver medal for its 70% dark chocolate, Amelonado & Criollo.
PORT-AU-PRINCE—The France-based nonprofit organization, Agency for Valorisation of Agricultural Products (AVPA), has placed Haitian chocolate among the top in the world by awarding a gourmet silver medal to AYITIKA, a local company specializing in the production and processing of cocoa.
AYITIKA, based in Les Cayes, the capital city of Haiti’s Southern department, received the distinction in Paris on Tuesday for its 70% dark chocolate marketed as Amelonado & Criollo. The Haitian company won the prestigious prize awarded by a group of expert judges selected by AVPA for its 4th International Chocolate Processed at Origin Contest, aiming at distinguishing product excellence.
For the second year in a row, AYITIKA was distinguished among the winners, following up on its remarkable performance in 2023. Launched at the end of 2022, the southern Haiti agricultural company’s chocolate factory is becoming famous and competing toe-to-toe with some of the biggest brands on the international market, where its product ranks among the very best in the world.
“This medal is the fruit of the rigorous, exciting and collective work carried out for more than seven years by AYITIKA and its various partners, including cocoa farmers,” rejoiced agronomist Jean Chesnel Jean, Chairman and CEO of the company.
From Paris to Les Cayes, about 125 miles south of Port-au-Prince, and to other cocoa-producing regions in Haiti, farmers, managers and workers of cocoa-producing companies celebrated after AYITIKA was announced as a medal winner again in 2024.
Fabienne Colas, cocoa farmer from Torbeck, a commune in Haiti’s Southern department, said: “I am doubly proud after winning this medal. This gives me a lot more motivation to continue working in cocoa production.” Colas, an AYITIKA producing partner, added that winning the medal at the competition was also a source of pride for her locality, a rural community— about 11 miles southwest of Les Cayes—to stand out in an international competition for excellence.
Pierre Sully Antoine, another AYITIKA producing partner, expressed a similar sentiment, stating that he joyfully received the news with great pride.
For the CEO, this medal further strengthens the company’s determination to leverage all Haitian talents and know-how in order to offer consumer products that reflect the rich aromatic diversity of Haitian cocoa varieties and the quality of Haiti’s unique soil and environmental factors.
As was the case during the 2023 edition of the contest, this year’s jurors once again appreciated the diversity of origins, tastes and creativity of chocolate producers. The organizers were able to classify and order the chocolates fairly and select them for the gastronomic jury.
According to the organizers, the quality of the chocolates presented in the 2024 contest has further improved, particularly in balance and texture, compared to presentations made in the previous three editions.
In this year’s contest, 70 chocolate samples from different companies representing about 20 countries were presented in two main categories: dark chocolate with additives and dark chocolate without additives. A total of 93 medals were awarded, including 6 Gourmet Gold (Costa Rica, Indonesia, Peru, Sao Tome, and Thailand), 9 Gourmet Silver (Colombia, Haiti, Peru, Taiwan, and Thailand), and 17 Gourmet Bronze (Benin, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Honduras, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Uganda, Peru, Sao Tome, Taiwan, Thailand, and Venezuela).
Recognized as one of the best cocoa and chocolate specialists in Haiti, Jean Chesnel Pierre praised the company’s approach, which allows it to control the entire production process, encapsulated in AYITIKA’s slogan: “From the root to the tablet.” A joyful Jean urged the Haitian authorities to create a political and socio-economic environment that allows the optimization of the enormous potential not only of cocoa but also of the entire Haitian agricultural sector.
Based primarily in the South department, AYITIKA has recently expanded its business throughout the country, notably in the neighboring Southeast and Nippes departments, establishing branches in Cayes-Jacmel (Southeast) and Baradères (Nippes). In addition to opening its own corporate units in various regions, Jean explained, the company currently collaborates with over 2,500 cocoa-producing families across Haiti.
According to Jean, before launching its operations in chocolate production in July 2022, the company spent over six years conducting product research and development. “Now, we control the entire production process from the selection of varieties of exceptional cocoa trees in the plantations to the chocolate production,” Jean said.
spent over six years doing research and development. “Now, we control the entire production process from the selection of varieties of exceptional cocoa trees in the plantations to the chocolate production,” Jean said.