To have Equagold as a partner during our competition was a personal pick for us. We were thrilled when they agreed to come on board as a competition partner.

All of the companies we have in our competition make products that we chose to use in our own cooking and baking. So our prize packs are like glimpses into our pantries.

Earlier this year Julia and I were discussing vanilla extract and which brand we use in cooking to stay fructose free. We had been using Equagold Vanilla Extract and their Dutch Cocoa Powder for a long time, so we did some further research on Equagold.

We wrote them an email and it was obvious from the prompt reply that we were dealing with one of the owners and they were truly passionate about their products and knowledgeable. They took the time to research their products and let us know what was fructose free! Not many companies are so helpful. Thus we had to have them in our competition.

Here’s what we’ve learnt about Equagold:

Their name refers to a narrow band of land either side of the equator often referred to as “black gold” and this is where many of their products are grown. Thus the name Equagold was born from Equator Gold. It is a privately owned company which has its factory in Takanini, South Auckland.

Importing Vanilla and making a pure Vanilla extract is the foundation of Equagold, with Vanilla products its core business. But over 10 years they’ve gone even further and developed other speciality food products like the Dutch cocoa, Drinking Chocolate, Couverture Chocolate and top quality spices and spice blends. All their products are high end gourmet foods and found in the shops of New Zealand and Australia.

It’s a true family run business with Dianne and Ross Appleton and their children. There’s a picture of Ross and Dianne above. Here’s what Ross has to say:

“Dianne has a great reputation as being an incredibly resourceful person who can help people find highest quality products. She’s also got extensive contacts in the food world and has an extremely good grip on flavours and understands that sort of thing.”

We have Equagold Dutch Cocoa, Cocoa Nibs, Vanilla Extract and Vanilla Powder in our competition. These are all products that we use regularly and we can’t wait to share this weeks Equagold inspired delicious chocolate recipe (which we had as our birthday cake).

Also don’t forget to enter our competition by sending in a photo, recipe or both of your fructose free cooking: http://bit.ly/WIN_TSBU. You will then have a chance to win products from not only Equagold, but also J’adore Raw, Brookfarm, Melinda’s Gluten Free Goodies, Hungry Tums, Mayvers, Health Magic and of course The Sugar Breakup Organic Golden Rice Malt Syrup and Dextrose.