Milk chocolates have a place in the heart, but there are many who remain partial to dark chocolate. Well, why wouldn’t they be? After all, the high percentage of cocoa can showcase the rich flavor of cacao and the wonderful aroma it brings, which would be truly hard to ignore.
Not just this, such dark fair chocolate comes with some incredible health benefits too. So, why now try the same, especially with the availability of a variety of Ecuadorian chocolate that will keep you busy for quite a while?
Cacao comes from a different region. They are grown in unique terroirs, then fermented and dried, with the use of different methods that finally leads it to become the finest sustainable chocolate through the use of talented hands.
Doing right through the processes, the consumers get a sea of choices, but the question that comes in here is, how to recognize the highest quality and the best consciously produced dark chocolate bar in the market? To get the answer to it, you got to look for different information that is provided on the package.
But then again, what must you look for? Well, to find the answers, keep reading ahead and know more.
Cacao Origin
Check for how transparent the company is, and have they offered the specifics or revealed it on the package? Note that even the brands that are mass-producing these chocolates, they have finally started to include the origin country on the packaging.
Now, this isn’t the recognition for the high-quality and sustainable Ecuadorian chocolate or orange chocolate, as the country is quite a vast place, and there can be hundreds and thousands of cacao producers in one country alone.
True transparency would mean the brand of chocolate remains willing to present the precise origin of the cacao so that if interested, the customers can look for the information.
So, if you are one dark chocolate lover just like us, go ahead and find the information.
For the ones who have fine flavor, ethical cacao, and premium fair chocolate, they would share the faces that are behind the cacao, just like Choco Mashpi, where from working towards women empowerment to following sustainable practices, all is used to ensure the best chocolates presented to our customers.
Price Tag
With high quality, supplier fairness, community development, and craftmanship, it for sure can’t be a steal. There might be some brands that might be overpriced but note that ethical chocolate and high-quality, it doesn’t come under-priced.
So, instead of accepting what is offered, get suspicious if next time you receive lower prices on the orange chocolates.
The price tags, they reveal more than the marketing buzzword would. The brands claim fine flavor, fair chocolate price, and sustainability for every cocoa farmer while they sell the chocolate at the price of the gum.
But does that make sense? So, why not find out about what you buy?
Ingredients
To differentiate between the quality of the Ecuadorian chocolate bars, one can look at the ingredients list too. The best of chocolates is generally made up of a few ingredients like cacao, cane sugar, and the optional cocoa butter.
Irrespective of the cacao percentage, the addition of the extra ingredient wouldn’t improve chocolate quality.
So, what to do? What to look for on the chocolate bar when looking for red flags?
• Lecithin- it is one of the cheap ingredients that is generally used in place of cocoa butter, which is quite expensive.
• Vanilla/Vanillin- This too, it is another red flag as when the chocolate bar is opened for consumption, and there exists the strong vanilla smell, it is an indication that the concerned brand is trying to mask up the bad flavors from the cheap cocoa.
• Dairy- the best of dark chocolates mustn’t contain dairy unless, otherwise, it is a bar of dark milk chocolate.
• Vegetable oils or artificial flavors- make sure to watch out for this one. Look for palm oil or other artificial/natural ingredients which are not supposed to be within the chocolate. These are just the additives that, in actuality, do not serve any purpose apart from cutting corners during the process of production.
All the above ingredients, they do not add value and are detrimental to the overall quality. Note that the fine cacao, it is meant to be the dark chocolate or the Ecuadorian chocolate’s protagonist.
So, unless otherwise, you are up for buying chocolates with the added ingredients, none apart from sugar would add up to sweetness and is to be included within the list of ingredients.
Others
You can even look for the reputation of the company, the faces behind the claimers of fair trade, check the website for the chocolate-making process, social media accounts, and alike to know what they offer and whether or not they are supporting the social causes like women empowerment or working towards the healthy ecosystem.
So, do your research before you make a pick, and if you are suspicious of any difference from what is said, you know what to do, isn’t it?
