Cioccolato di Modica

Cioccolato di Modica is a cold-worked granular chocolate produced exclusively within the municipality of Modica, in the province of Ragusa, Sicily. It is made from bitter cocoa paste and sugar, without conching, added cocoa butter, vegetable fats, emulsifiers, or milk, which preserves intact sugar crystals and produces the product's characteristic graininess.

About this designation

Registered as a PGI on 12 June 2017 under file number PGI-IT-02314 (eAmbrosia identifier EUGI00000016609), Cioccolato di Modica is produced entirely within the administrative territory of the municipality of Modica, province of Ragusa. The specification requires that all production steps, from the working of the bitter cocoa paste through to the finished product, take place within that delimited area. The mandatory ingredients are bitter cocoa paste, comprising between 50 % and 99 % of total product weight, and sugar — including refined or raw cane sugar — comprising between 1 % and 50 %. Minimum cocoa solids content must be not less than 50 %; minimum cocoa butter content not less than 25 %; moisture content must not exceed 2,5 %. The specification expressly prohibits colourings, preservatives, emulsifiers, vegetable fats, vanillin, and milk. No conching stage is employed, and processing temperatures are controlled so that sugar crystals do not dissolve, producing the product's defining granular texture. The finished bar takes the form of a rectangular parallelepiped with sides tapering into a truncated pyramid and must not exceed 100 g in weight. Packaging must occur within at most 12 hours of cooling and within the production facility or annexed premises. Labelling must carry the words 'Cioccolato di Modica', the EU PGI symbol, and the product logo. The applicant group is the Consorzio di Tutela del Cioccolato di Modica IGP.

Source: The register document this entry was written from · retrieved August 26, 2026

Distinctive facts

• Registered as a PGI on 12 June 2017 under file number PGI-IT-02314; the applicant body is the Consorzio di Tutela del Cioccolato di Modica IGP.
• The specification prohibits conching and forbids the addition of vegetable fats, emulsifiers, vanillin, and milk; no other chocolate type on the market shares this combination of constraints.
• Minimum cocoa solids content must be not less than 50 % and minimum cocoa butter content not less than 25 % of the finished product.
• Packaging must take place within at most 12 hours of cooling and within the production facility or premises annexed thereto.