World Chocolate Masters Winner 2018

The World Championship of chocolate artisans has come to an end and we have found our World Chocolate Masters Winner. Throughout these last three days we’ve seen some amazing work ranging from massive chocolate showpieces to eco-friendly portable travel cakes. Chef Masters have also introduced us to the chocolate bars of the future and chocolate designs of the ‘City of Tomorrow’.

This year’s theme was of course, Futuropolis. Chef Masters were invited to think about the future of chocolate gastronomy and how the cities of the future will influence the way we live. The competition began with Assignment #1 and #2. These presented chefs with the challenge of creating a chocolate travel cake and a showpiece ‘The Futropolitan’. Points were tallied at the end of day one leaving an impressive top 3 including Switzerland and France tied for first with Japan trailing close behind in second. Elias Laderach of Switzerland took the most points for the showpiece assignment and Barry Johnson of the UK took the most points in the Chocolate Travel Cake.

Day two was another very exciting one offering three assignments: Noir Chocolate Bar of the Future, Chocolate Snack To-Go, and Moulded Chocolate Bonbon. At the end of day two 10 finalists were selected based on their point value and moved on to the final day of the World Chocolate Masters.

1. Elias Läderach – CH
2. Yoann Laval – FRA
3. Florent Cheveau – USA
4. Akihiro Kakimoto – JAP
5. Tor Stubbe – DEN
6. Eun-Hye Kim – KOR
7. Michal Iwanluk – POL
8. Barry Johnson – UK
9. Jurgen Baert – BEL
10. Desmond Lee - SGP

Today, we’ve seen some more fierce competition, winning the World Chocolate Masters can completely change a chef’s life which means every competitor is bringing their very best on the final day. Assignment #6 of the World Chocolate Masters was creating Fresh Patisserie of Futropolis leading up to the final assignment of the competition, Chocolate Design ‘City of Tomorrow’. Most all competitors matched their theme based off their initial showpiece they created (for consistency). Not only did this final round highlight some of the finer details of chocolate art but chefs had to work within a standard frame and were to use at least 6 different techniques.

The jury is comprised of 20 of the best chocolatiers and pastry chefs in the world. In the final round competitors were judged based on originality, theme, design, details, consistency, and interpretation of the theme itself. Contestants can ask the jury to justify their score and to review and re-assess in cases of irregularities. The contestant with the highest total score is to be awarded the title of “World Chocolate Master”

The Winner

With a total of 552 points Switzerland clenched the number one spot and claimed the title of World Chocolate Master. Elias Läderach landed 163 points in the first round, a very impressive 222 in the second, and _167 in the final round. 

Here's a look at the final numbers for the top 10 finalist

Congratulations to all contestants, if it wasn't apparent the world of chocolate looks very bright. We hope you all enjoyed this amazing competition, we surely enjoyed following along!