Primo Botanica is a premium chocolate manufacturer founded in Troy. Founded 4 years ago, it specializes in producing cocoa from producers in Central and South America. The company recently won the Good Food Award for its Mountain Cardamom chocolate bar. This is the first time the company has participated in the competition.
Now in its 11th year, the award is sponsored by the Good Food Foundation, which is the foundation of the Slow Food Movement. According to its mission statement:
The Good Food Foundation exists to celebrate, connect, empower, and utilize the passionate but often overlooked participants in the food system, who are moving towards delicious, authentic and responsible food, to humanize and reform us American food culture.
Primo Botanica’s Mountain Cardamom bar is vegan and is made from coconut milk, Nicaraguan cardamom and Mexican cocoa. Oliver Holecek, the company’s owner and chief chocolate maker, told me that this cocoa bean comes from a cooperative called Rayen in Chiapas, Mexico. According to promotional materials, “this variety is dedicated to saving the local heirloom variety of cocoa. Back to Thousands of years BC.”
Mountain Cardamom is one of the three major chocolate winners in the eastern region, which is one of the five designated regions of the Good Food Awards among the 19 chocolate finalists nationwide. Overall, this year’s awards received approximately 2,000 entries, and these awards were awarded to 475 finalists in 14 categories, including beer, deli, cheese, coffee, honey and pickles. In total, about 300 judges participated.
The price of the Mountain Cardamom bar is 10 ounces (2.1 ounces). It can be purchased at selected retailers via Primo Botanica’s website, such as the Honest Weight Food Co-Op in Albany and the 518 Craft Tasting Room at 200 Broadway in downtown Troy, sharing a space with Alias ​​Coffee and Shmaltz Brewing.