In celebration of World Chocolate Day on July 7, 2025, Shangri-La Mactan, Cebu hosted a special chocolate workshop in partnership with Auro Chocolate, inviting guests to explore bean-to-bar Filipino chocolate in an immersive educational and tasting experience. Mark Ocampo, co-founder and managing director of Auro Chocolate, guided attendees into a journey into Filipino cacao — from its rich history to crafting artisanal chocolate treats.
Pronounced “oro,” the Spanish word for gold, Auro is a stylized name that allowed the brand to retain the sound of “oro” while navigating trademark challenges, as the was too commonly used. By using “Au” — the symbol for gold on the periodic table — the founders created “Auro.”
“[Chocolate] was part of the Mayan heritage and cacao was actually used as a currency. It was actually traded and it was as good as gold and so when people were paying for things, they were using cacao,” shared Ocampo.
“I wish I could still do that,” quipped the young entrepreneur, drawing laughter from the audience. Ocampo is as well-rounded as businessmen come, having worked in global branding for names like Tesla, Tory Burch and Alexander Wang before devoting himself to the mission of elevating Philippine chocolate.
More recently, Auro Chocolate sent an official invitation to Vogue Philippines Threads — showcasing a playful twist on chocolate South Sea pearls, a nod to the “Pearl of the Orient Seas” — during Paris Fashion Week 2024. According to Vogue Philippines, these luxurious hazelnut‑filled chocolate pearls were first unveiled at the event, symbolizing the fusion of Filipino heritage and high fashion.
That creative pedigree now informs everything from Auro’s packaging to its global collaborations with Vogue and other design-forward partners. Today, Auro Chocolate is recognized as a leading Philippine chocolate brand known for its bean-to-bar approach, emphasizing sustainable farming and high-quality cacao harvesting.
“Auro in its essence is really a social enterprise,” said Ocampo. “We really focus and pride ourselves in working with different farming communities in the Philippines.”
“We really pride ourselves in using minimal ingredients. For example, dark chocolate really uses just two to three ingredients. We really want to keep it natural. You can’t hide imperfection; you can’t hide poor practices if you’re using only two ingredients — so we really had to focus on the farmers first.”
At the resort, a demonstration of praline-making techniques and a tasting of chocolate-based cakes was led by chefs Charlene Castillo and King Edgardo Buño. The two showcased not just skill, but creativity — guiding guests through the intricate process of crafting pralines with precision and flair.
Ocampo said collaborating with Shangri-La Mactan was a turning point for Auro Chocolate, noting that the resort served as their gateway to working with the global Shangri-La brand. He
recalled their first project together — Afternoon Chocolate in 2018 — as the moment the brand began actively exploring creative ways to reimagine chocolate experiences.
The partnership, he said, was pivotal in shaping how Auro approaches collaborations: by finding the right people who could co-create without limits, the brand was able to keep pushing ideas forward.
Ocampo shared that when Auro first began exporting internationally, many of their partners advised them to remove any mention of the Philippines from their branding — a suggestion that struck the team, especially as a proudly Filipino brand.
In line with its mission of proudly waving the Phillipine flag in the world of chocolates, the brand has collaborated with chef Nouel Catis Omamalin, a Dubai-based pastry chef, who is the culinary mind behind the phenomenal Dubai pistachio chocolate — loved for its rich blend of pistachio cream, kunafa crunch and milk chocolate.
Chef Omamalin was one of the brand’s earliest supporters in 2017 and was responsible for creating unique recipes for Auro in the Middle East. This year, both have collaborated to present the new Manila Chocolate: a bold and delicious chocolate bar made with 42 percent milk chocolate and filled with Chef’s Omamalin’s ube baklava.
“When you find gold initially, it’s not pretty. It’s kind of like dirt. It looks like rocks basically and you’re not actually able to see its true value. So similarly, I would say that cacao and farmers in the Philippines were also like that. They weren’t given the right attention, they weren’t given the right care. But you could really see that when you give something the right care, that they are actually as valuable as gold.” S