Fran’s Chocolates Receives Prestigious Good Food & SOFI Awards

Fairtrade organic certified Almond Gold Bar among best of America’s food movement

Updated April 19, 2017

Fran’s Chocolates was honored with a 2017 Good Food Award and a SOFI Award for their Almond Gold Bar in the confections category. The Good Food Awards are held annually to recognize the best of America’s growing artisan food movement. The SOFI Awards from the Specialty Food Association recognize culinary excellence and creativity.

“We’re proud of this achievement and are honored to be a part of the Good Food Awards community,” said Fran Bigelow, Founder and President of Fran’s Chocolates.

“The Almond Gold Bar is one of our classic recipes; its reformulation was an exciting opportunity to innovate and to strengthen our commitment to sustainable and ethical sourcing, environmental stewardship, and high-quality, organic, and Fairtrade ingredients.”

A panel of top food industry experts evaluated more than 2,000 entries from 38 states to select the 193 winners for the Good Food Awards. Judges rigorously evaluate entries based on environmentally sound agriculture practices, ethical sourcing transparency, responsible production, and excellent taste. SOFI Award winners were selected from over 3,000 entries by a national panel of 62 culinary experts in a blind tasting

For 34 years, Fran’s Chocolates has created artisan confections with ingredients sourced from farmers dedicated to ethical, social, and environmental standards. Fran’s has now formalized their long-held commitment to sustainability by certifying many of their products Fairtrade, the first being the Almond Gold Bar followed by Fran’s signature and award-winning Salted Caramels (which also happen to be a favorite of former President Barack Obama).

By making this transition, Fran’s has shown their commitment to sourcing high-quality Fairtrade certified cocoa, meaning improved conditions for the farmers they work with.

Bryan Lew, Chief Operating Officer at Fairtrade America.

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About Fran’s Chocolates

Fran Bigelow introduced the artisan chocolate experience to consumers in 1982, when she opened her European-style chocolate shop in Seattle, WA.  Her pursuit of maintaining the pure, clean flavor of chocolate led to intense, exquisite confections and earned Fran’s a following that has never stopped growing and has expanded to international recognition.

Each confection is made in small batches with meticulous care and skill.  Dedicated to partnering with producers who have strong ethical, social, and environmental standards, Fran’s proudly creates handcrafted confections using carefully selected organic, non-GMO, Fairtrade, and local ingredients.

Learn more at www.franschocolates.com and follow on @FransChocolates.

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