Fu Wan Chocolate
| File:Fu Wan Chocolate logo.png | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Bean-to-bar chocolate |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Pingtung, Taiwan |
Key people | Warren Hsu (Founder / CEO)[1] |
| Products | Chocolate (bars, drinking, local-ingredient) |
| Website | www |
Fu Wan Chocolate (Chinese: 福灣巧克力; pinyin: Fú Wān Qiǎokèlì) is a bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturer based in Pingtung County, Taiwan. The company produces craft chocolate using locally grown cocoa and indigenous Taiwanese ingredients.[2]
Taiwan Today considers Fu Wan Chocolate as a pioneer in Taiwan's bean-to-bar chocolate movement, helping to raise the nation's cacao profile on the international stage.[3]
Fu Wan operates café and retail shops in Taipei's Da'an District and Taipei 101.[4] It also sells products online globally via its official shop.
Fu Wan Chocolate was founded by Warren Hsu (Chinese: 許華仁), the first Taiwanese to receive a certification in chocolate tasting from the International Institute of Chocolate and Cacao Tasting. He began working with local cocoa farmers in Pingtung. Over time, it has built a tree-to-bar production model, from sourcing the fresh cocoa fruit through fermentation to making chocolate bars.[5]
Fu Wan Chocolate's product line includes single-origin dark chocolates as well as fermented and specialty bars combining cocoa with local flavors by using native Taiwanese plants like lychee, mango, cinnamon leaves, tea leaves, and local shrimp.[6] Approximately 71% of its raw materials come from within an 80 km radius of its base.[7]
The company's factory is HACCP- and ISO 22000-certified, by aiming to preserve nutrients and maintain food-safe standards by using naturally processed cocoa with controlled fermentation and no alkalization.[8]
Awards
[edit | edit source]In 2019, Fu Wan Chocolate's "Taiwan No. 1 62% Pingtung Dark Chocolate" won the World's Best Dark Chocolate award in the plain/origin category of the International Chocolate Awards (ICA).[9]
In December 2022, Fu Wan Chocolate won four silver and seven bronze awards in the "Tree to Bar — Plain (Dark)" category of the Golden Bean Awards in the United Kingdom.[10]
As of mid-2025, Fu Wan has won 11 gold medals in the Asia-Pacific round of the ICA for chocolates made with local ingredients, including its 100% Pingtung black chocolate, bringing its cumulative ICA gold medal count to 65+ awards.[11] In late 2025, at the ICA World Final, Fu Wan also won 1 gold, 5 silvers, and 9 bronze medals.[12]
Controversies
[edit | edit source]In 2020,a previously unreported sexual harassment conviction involving Fu Wan Chocolate's founder – Warren Hsu – resurfaced online. Consequently, Hsu was sentenced to six months, which was later converted to a fine, after harassing a female intern at the company's cacao farm five years earlier.[13] The case also drew criticism after then-CEO Hsu Hua-jen publicly defended his father and blamed the victim. Following public calls for a boycott, several major Taiwanese brands, including Laurel Corp., Mister Donut, and Kuai Kuai, terminated partnerships with Fu Wan and began recalling products containing its chocolate. Retailers such as Family Mart and Carrefour also halted sales. Fu Wan issued a late apology stating it respected the companies' decisions and would bear all economic losses. Gender equality groups noted that while the case highlights the importance of workplace protections in Taiwan, societies should also acknowledge genuine remorse and opportunities for reform. Meanwhile, Pingtung cacao farmers expressed concern that the scandal could harm the reputation of the nation's cacao industry and reduce consumer confidence.[14]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
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External links
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