Filip Teplý of Brno's Ajala on winning the world's chocolate awards

Filip Teplý, owner of the Brno chocolate manufactory Ajala, is having the most successful year in the history of his business: at the International Chocolate Awards in Bordeaux and Great Taste in London the company collected a record number of awards and secured its place among the world's chocolate elite.

Teplý says the culinary “Oscars” work directly for the business: prizes bring new customers and open doors to foreign markets. The awards are also the most convincing advertising, which matters especially for a maker of premium chocolate, where reputation decides everything.

In conversation the entrepreneur also touches on the industry's main challenges: growing the business and cocoa prices, which remain a headache for every chocolatier. Another topic is the dream of a shop of his own in Prague: Ajala is still known mainly as a Brno brand, and the capital remains a coveted stage for it.

Among the company's novelties and experiments are “Old Czech chocolate”, created as a response to the Dubai chocolate boom, and a new lunar chocolate bar, designed partly for women during menstruation. Such products show that Ajala is betting not only on the classics but also on bold ideas.