Cacao farmer Christopher Fadriga from Bago City, Negros Occidental grabbed the gold award at the 2021 International Cocoa Awards (ICA) celebration held at Salon du Chocolat in Paris, France, recently.

Through its Cocoa Excellence Program, the prestigious award conferred the ‘Best 50’ of 235 samples coming from the 53 cacao-producing countries globally, and Fadriga was among the three cacao farmers from the Philippines to enter the best cocoa producers in the world.

Department of Agriculture Region 6 (DA-6) Regional Executive Director Remelyn Recoter lauded the victory of Fadriga and hailed it as a momentous milestone for the cacao industry in the region.

“My warmest congratulations to Mr. Christopher Fadriga as one of the gold awardees of the 2021 Cocoa of Excellence Awards. The DA Western Visayas applauds your efforts in bringing the Negros cacao to the roster of the best cocoa in the world,” Recoter said, adding this recognition would further stimulate the cacao industry in the region.

She also encouraged the region’s cacao growers to persevere and look up to Fadriga’s exemplary achievement and farming best practices as the model approach in the pursuit of producing fine quality cocoa products.

The ICA is a biennial global competition recognizing the achievements of cacao farmers by providing them honor and celebrating the diversity of flavors from different origins in the world./WDJ