Askinosie Chocolate was presented a highly-coveted 2013 Good Food Award for its Dark Milk Chocolate + Fleur del Sel Bar in San Francisco, Ca.

The Good Food Awards recognize “tasty, authentic and responsibly produced” food in nine categories, according to the organization’s press release. Winners were selected in a blind tasting of over 1,366 entries and then companies were evaluated on how the product was sourced and crafted. Award-winning specialty food manufacturers demonstrated exemplary efforts in creating and packaging their product sustainably.

“Being a Good Food Winner is a huge honor for us,” said Lawren Askinosie, director of sales and marketing at Askinosie Chocolate. “Our Dark Milk Chocolate bar is already one of our most popular bars, but it’s incredible to be recognized beyond a great tasting product – as a leader in sustainability and transparency.”

The third annual Good Food Awards ceremony—often nicknamed the ‘Oscars of food’—was held in San Francisco’s iconic Ferry Building, hosted by Alice Waters, and sponsored by Whole Foods Market, William Sonoma and others. The Good Food Awards were created and organized by Seedling Projects in partnership with numerous food writers, farmers and producers across the US. For more information, visit askinosie.com or call 417-862-9900.

Askinosie Chocolate is a small batch chocolate manufacturer with 14 employees located in Springfield, Mo., sourcing 100% of their beans directly from farmers. Shawn Askinosie, founder and chocolate maker, travels to regions of Ecuador, Honduras, the Philippines and Tanzania to work directly with the farmers and source cocoa beans. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled Authentic Single Origin Chocolate. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit share with the farmers, giving them a Stake In the Outcome™. The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other; sharing the Askinosie Chocolate Experience by leaving the world a better place than they found it.