The Academy of Chocolate has announced this year's big winners and one of them might surprise you.
In the category for "Best dark bean-to-bar under 70%," Almonte, Ontario's Hummingbird Chocolate Makers' Hispaniola bar came out on top, taking home the 2016 Golden Bean prize at the Academy of Chocolate Awards in London. Hummingbird also won three silvers and two bronze in the competition.
Founders Erica and Drew Gilmour got into the chocolate business just a few years ago after meeting as international development workers in Afghanistan.
"We were looking for a change in lifestyle where we could spend a little more time at home," Erica told CTV News. "Drew pointed out how much I love to eat chocolate, and suggested I might like to make chocolate."
The couple source their beans directly from farmers they worked with in their previous careers in places like the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Vietnam, Nicaragua and Bolivia. The Gilmours pay the famers more than fair trade prices to ensure their beans are grown sustainably and ethically.
The beans are then roasted, ground, separated from their shells and mixed with organic cane sugar and a tiny bit of cocoa butter.
The Hispanola bar is currently being sold in the Ottawa area for $6.50 for a 50-gram bar. The couple hopes to expand sales across Ontario later this year.
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