CATCHING UP WITH OUR TOP 5

But, before we choose a winner, we thought we’d check in with our amazing Top 5. We sent them round some questions so that we could get to know them and their creations a little bit better!

1. What / who was your inspiration for your Choc Dreams flavour and wrapper design?

2. Did you learn anything interesting about chocolate making during the competition? If so, what is that?

3. If you win, what are you most excited about doing on your trip to Wellington.

4. Do you know what you want to be/do when you are older?

Check out their answers below!

Ruby van den Berg - Pavlova Lova

1. I wanted to do something New Zealand flavoured. So me and mum thought about some ideas of things that I like to eat. We came up with Pavlova, ginger crunch and Lamington. Pavlova and ginger crunch are my top two favourites. I knew that pavlova was named after a ballerina and I love to dance - so I chose that one. 

2. I learnt that chocolate goes hard very fast and we needed to make it quickly when we mixed in the berries and put the pavlova bits on top.

3. I'm most excited about coming to the Chocolate Factory and seeing how to make chocolate. And also going to Weta Workshop. 

4. I want to be an artist - a singer, dancer, and an actor and a painter

Sophia Evans - Orange Mustachio 

1. Inspiration came from a much loved ice cream flavour - orange choc chip ice cream. So I was thinking about orange and chocolate. Then I was watching Food Network and Bobby Flay and his daughter were enjoying delicious pistachio gelato and saying how amazing it was, so was inspired to add pistachio because "they are so yummy", to the orange chocolate to make the flavour even more delicious.The idea for the art is funny. Sophia has been drawing cats with moustaches for a while (random 11 year old art) ... then "pistachio" rhymed with "moustachio" and magic, that's the name and art idea.

2. That so few ingredients actually go in to the making of chocolate liquor. Also the video with Gabe’s sailing adventure was very cool.

3. Most excited about wrapping the first bar and being "famous" with my art on all the chocolate bars ... and of course eating my flavour chocolate. And going to Weta Workshop because I recently watched The Lord of The Rings Movies ... and actually everything.

4. I want to be a pop star or a scientist.

Jessee Climo - Campfire Delight

1. Every year I go camping with my family and we make S'mores together. It's my favourite thing to do. I looked online for smokey ingredients to add that campfire taste and I thought smoked salt would be perfect so it would taste like a S'more straight from a campfire to feel like a holiday whenever you ate it.

2. How everybody in the top 10 did a great job with their flavours and wrapper design.

3. If I won the competition I would be most excited about going inside the factory and wrapping the first chocolate bar.

4. Owning a candy shop or bakery.

Austin Fletcher - Huntzels

1. I love Honey and Pretzels and thought they would taste yummy together. The picture has honey bees and pretzels falling out of a tree. I loooooove drawing and wanted to make it cool. I especially like the pigs in mud (melted chocolate) haha. The orange stripe is for the pretzels and the blue just looks good with it. 

2. That the stone grinding takes 3 whole days! That's so looooong. 

3. Going to the Wellington Chocolate Factory and wrapping my bar!

4. An Author/Illustrator 

Luka Harrop - Buccaneer Brittle

1. My family love pirates and we thought of something pirate-y - we watched Pirates of the Caribbean in lockdown, and I also read about a pirate called Grace O’Malley. And I also thought about the flavours of pirates like molasses and rum - but that wouldn’t go with chocolate. So I thought about other flavours like golden honeycomb and salted peanut, that’s sort of pirate-y. So I added other flavours to make a taste explosion.

2. I learnt that you have to go half-way around the world to collect the perfect cocoa beans for chocolate. And going half-way across the world is sort of pirate-y like my chocolate!

3. I would like to visit the Chocolate Factory with my sister because it is her dream, and I am also excited. I would also love to visit the Zoo and Weta Studios.

4. My dream is to play cricket for the Black Caps. If I can’t do that I will be a chocolate maker or an architect who designs chocolate factories.