The Chocolate Fest at SM Seaside City Cebu's Mountain Wing Atrium continues through July 12, welcoming visitors with a passport-style crawl card that encourages exploration of Cebu's chocolate community. Attendees collect stamps while meeting chocolatiers, cafés, bakers, and entrepreneurs.
Learning Chocolate from the Source
Chef Grace Aquino of Dahlia Chocolates led a guided chocolate appreciation session before the public filled the atrium. She shared her passion for Cebu's cacao industry and the farmers behind it, noting that while many countries are globally recognized for chocolate, not all grow cacao. “We have cacao here,” Aquino said. “We’re just not known because we lack knowledge, and we need to continue training our farmers.”
The tasting compared compound chocolate (less cocoa butter, firmer bite) with couverture chocolate (richer cocoa butter, smoother melt). Guests sampled single-origin chocolates from Auro and Dahlia, whose caramel-like notes highlighted terroir's influence on flavor.
New Discoveries: Le Chata
Le Chata, a Cebu pop-up, introduces horchata through a local lens. Its Chocolate Fest-exclusive lineup includes Chocochata (horchata and tablea), Mocha (horchata, tablea, coffee), and Chocoberry (tablea with strawberry). Only four months in business, the team said joining Chocolate Fest marks their first mall appearance. “Once they learn it’s rice-based, they become curious,” said co-owner Leeann Baguia. “People really want to try something new.”
Interactive and Trendy Booths
Token Yarn offers 3D-printed toys, personalized chunky letter keychains, and fidget clickers. Owners Tom Vailoces and Apple Nuñez guide visitors in building their own clickers and designing keychains. Ice Ice Baby serves fried ice cream in Oreo and KitKat flavors, having launched this year. PLWN Chocolate brings the viral Dubai chocolate trend with dark, white, and Biscoff-inspired versions.
Classic Pairings and More
Oh Nata x Tsoko combines warm tablea with Portuguese-inspired egg tarts. Say Cheese offers signature cheese pulls and its own Dubai chocolate-inspired dessert. Other booths include Celso’s Crib, Elias Home Kitchen, Overly Coconutti, and Pina Cressant Phils. On July 11 at 4 p.m., the Cebu Choco Cake Lab lets participants decorate bento cakes to take home.
Small businesses share a space to showcase craft, exchange stories, and connect with new customers, creating a community atmosphere that ties the festival together.
