Award-winning Vanuatu company Aelan Chocolate, has received international recognition, after it was ranked for the quality of its chocolates at the first 'Chocolates elaborated at Origin International Contest' in Paris.
Sandrine Wallez, the director of Aelan Chocolate Makers, told Pacific Beat that the recognition is important and will help them find new export markets for the product.
She said it will also help bring confidence to the local cocoa growers.
"It was really good for us to participate, we wanted actually to see how good our chocolate was compared to the other cocoa producing countries," she said.
Ms Wallez also said the award has been important because COVID-19 has had a large impact on the business and local farmers.
"Like all the Pacific nations, we've been in lockdown since March 2020 and to have our boundary closed and just stopped all the tourism activity which was one of the major markets for us," she said.
Photo source Aelan Chocolate