If you’re looking for the best chocolate, coffee, and fruits in the Philippines, then you better come to Davao Region. Known before as Southern Mindanao, it comprises five provinces: Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Davao de Oro, and Davao Occidental.
Chocolate Capital
It was during the time of the administration of Rodrigo R. Duterte that Davao City – the region’s capital – was declared the “Chocolate Capital of the Philippines.” Davao City, after all, has helped “in making the Philippines world-renowned and sought after by chocolate makers from the United States, Japan, and Europe.”
Lester V. Ledesma, in an article which appeared in an in-flight magazine, described Davao chocolate in these words: “It’s a deliciously bittersweet candy. The flavor is reminiscent of local tablea but it’s more intense and velvety. The morsel goes down smoothly like a finely made chocolat suisse. It’s the kind of chocolate that delivers a shot of adrenaline.”
So, if you’re craving the best chocolate in the country, Davao City is the place to be. “There are so many chocolate brands in Davao City,” observed the website www.damecacao.com, a global resource for passionate chocolate lovers. “Davao has made itself into a chocolate destination of sorts.”
Cacao City, located in the heart of the city, has become the chocolate shop in Davao. Here, you can purchase tableya (a pure, roasted cocoa bean that is pressed into coin-shaped tablets), chocolate bars, chocolate-covered fruits, and many other cacao-based products.
But the best chocolate can be found at the Malagas Chocolate Museum, the first of its kind in the country. “We have opened our doors to the public in 2017 with a vision of taking guests to a complete tree-to-bar experience,” said its website. “From its origins all the way to the process of it becoming one sweet treat you’ll enjoy; the chocolate museum is a place wherein you can weave the stories together.”
Products include dark chocolate bars, chocolate-covered fruits, and tableya. Its 100% Premium Unsweetened Chocolate wins four golds and one bronze at the 2020 World Drinking Chocolate Competition organized by the prestigious International Chocolate Awards.
