SPECIALTY Filipino chocolate brand Manila Chocolatier, known for its penchant for combining Filipino flavors with Filipino chocolate, is now available in select Kultura branches nationwide.

Manila Chocolatier started in 2012 when chocolatier Raul Matias decided to create another brand that was distinctly Filipino and separate from his Machiavelli Chocolatier brand which he founded in 2009.

“I thought about the brand when I was still abroad studying chocolates. I was always disappointed coming home and going back only bringing shirts as souvenirs because my foreign friends don’t get the Filipino experience,” Mr. Matias told BusinesWorld during the launch on Nov. 5 at the Kultura store in SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City.

It took him six months to develop the flavors of his pralines, some of which include local Filipino ingredients and flavors like ube (purple yam), lambanog (coconut wine), kalamansi (local lime), mango, salabat (ginger tea), and bukayo (sweetened coconut strips) among others.

The flavors are all included in a box of 12 assorted pralines, which is the most popular item of the brand, according to Mr. Matias as balikbayans buy this for their trips abroad.

Each piece of chocolate is also decorated with Filipino images like the bahay-kubo (nipa hut), coconut trees, and the Philippine archipelago, among others.

“[But] the most important thing is to source your chocolates from the Philippines. When I came out with Manila Chocolatier, I didn’t feel right using other chocolates from abroad when we’re after presenting Filipino flavors,” he said.

His chocolate comes from select farms in the Davao region, which has become popular for being the source for other Filipino chocolate brands like Theo and Filo, Malagos, and Auro.

One of the farms producing cacao for Auro Chocolates was hailed for producing some of the Top 20 Cacao Beans in the World at the recently concluded International Cocoa Awards given by the Salon Du Chocolat in Paris.

“I’m very happy [Filipino chocolates are getting recognition] because my supplier supplies Europe. The chocolate school I attended uses Filipino cacao beans,” he said.

During the launch, attendees were treated to Manila Chocolatier chocolates and this writer, at the expense of her blood sugar levels, found that her favorites were the salabat pralines (which hits you with the rich chocolate flavors then calms down with the heat of the ginger at the back of your tongue) and the ube pralines (which has a gooey ube center and a good balance between the sweetness of the chocolate and the ube).

Other attendees went crazy over the mango chocolates which has bits of dried mango encased in rich chocolate. The tropical sweetness of the dried mango is offset by the bittersweet flavors of the chocolate.

But my absolute favorite was not a praline. It came in the form of sweetened pili nuts covered in chocolate and dusted with chocolate powder. Unlike other popular chocolate-covered nuts like almonds and macadamia, pili nuts are softer and creamier with just a hint of sweetness. The nuts are also covered in caramelized sugar so there’s a crunchy texture when biting into a piece.

The flavors in the pralines are also available as chocolate bars.

Currently, Manila Chocolatier is available in Duty-Free Shops across the country and now in select Kultura stores. Mr. Matias said there are plans to enter a supermarket but no date has been set.

Aside from Manila Chocolatier, select Kultura stores also carry the aforementioned Filipino chocolate brands: Auro, Malagos, and Theo and Filo. — Zsarlene B. Chua

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