WHEN CHOCOHOLICS UNITE

The Oxford Dictionary defines a chocoholic as a person who is very fond of chocolate.

- VICKY VELOSO-BARRERA

That's putting it rather mildly, coming from a certified chocoholic like me. But I have an all-time favorite chocolate book titled "Chocolate: The Consuming Passion" where the author, Sarah Boynton, compares a chocoholic's "I like chocolate" to "I like to breathe." That's more like it!

Happily, for chocolate lovers here and around the globe, we have the fertile, volcanic-enriched soils and mountain slopes that produce cacao beans of exceptional quality. In addition, we have the master chocolatiers who take this great produce to come up with globally award-winning chocolate creations. Then, we have retailers like SM who are proud to showcase the best of the Philippines.

Auro, a Pinoy tree-to-bar company founded by Mark Ocampo and Kelly Go, is one of the pioneers who took what they learned from their studies abroad to produce chocolate that ranks right up there with the world's best. The high-quality, silky chocolate is further enhanced by the infusion of Pinoy flavors like ube, coconut, banana, and taro. The packaging is colorful and attractive, making Auro a staple pasalubong item that you find in specialty local stores like Kultura.

This year marked the sixth edition of S Maison x Auro World Chocolate Fair, held July 3 to 6 at the S Maison Main Atrium, just in time to commemorate World Chocolate Day which falls on July 7. In keeping with the Auro founder's playful spirit, this year's theme was "Aliens vs Dinosaurs." Apart from the kid-friendly, theme park-like atmosphere where pastel dinosaurs and giant eggs were juxtaposed with cosmic elements, the goal was to reflect what was currently in cinemas (the latest Jurassic Park installment) and current news (UFO sightings worldwide).