As Easter edges closer, chocolate greets us along the aisles of every Irish supermarket. Eggs of every size and flavour currently line the shelves, alongside those tempting ‘3 for €5’ sale signs, which can be so difficult to pass on.
You’d never begrudge the loved ones in your life their annual Easter treat, but did you know that many of the Easter eggs on the market can no longer be defined as chocolate? It’s all down to their cocoa mass percentage.
You might have seen a percentage on higher-end chocolate labels in supermarkets, or on the packaging of your favourite Irish-made chocolate. For dark chocolate, it is usually 70% or higher, while high-end milk chocolates might show percentages of around 40-45%. These percentages refer to the amount of cocoa mass present in the product.
White chocolate doesn’t contain any cocoa solids – it is made using cocoa butter – so if you see a white chocolate bar with a percentage, it refers to the percentage of cocoa butter.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, for milk chocolate, products need to have a minimum cocoa mass of 20% to be considered chocolate. This is lower than in the rest of the European Union, where the minimum is 25%. However, much of the generic chocolate you find in supermarkets contains significantly less than the 20% required to be considered chocolate.
With less cocoa mass, these products instead use a host of other ingredients, including palm oil and shea butter, to compensate for the lack of cocoa.
One way to know you are purchasing a high-quality chocolate this Easter is to simply check the ingredients list on the product. Another way? Spend a bit more, if possible, and buy from a local Irish chocolatier.
Braw Chocolate
Anna Coffey spent years in high-end kitchens like Adare Manor and Cocoa Atelier in Dublin as a pastry chef and chocolatier. In 2020, she took a leap of faith and founded Braw Chocolate in her native Limerick.
Starting a business during the pandemic was no easy feat, but the changed mindset of Irish consumers (who were more conscious about supporting local during this time) saw her gain immediate popularity.
“We opened in July, 2020, so five years ago – which is funny; it feels like it’s just been one really long, intensive year,” she says, laughing. “The support was there from the start and it was quite intense. I don’t think that’s a normal way to begin a business.
“I wanted Braw to be recognisable, so right away I invested in professional branding. I think because of that, people thought it was bigger than it was, but it was just me. We’re still considered a very small business; there’s just two of us.”
When I was a kid, [Cadbury] Roses didn’t taste the way they do now. Ingredients are being subbed because of rising costs
Aside from her premium chocolate bars with flavours like spiced biscuit and pecan pie, Anna also offers seasonal chocolate products, like Easter eggs, and small-batch bakery items for wholesale and local collection.
“I would say the bakery is the main part of the business, while the chocolate can be more seasonal, so really the bakery side of the business helps grow the chocolate side,” she says. “Our chocolate flavours tend to link back to our bakery items, as well [pecan pie, etc].”
Anna is highly skilled in the art of chocolate-making, but she is far from a snob. She understands that there is a time to enjoy Celebrations at Christmas, or the odd Galaxy bar, but also feels there is more to consider when purchasing chocolate regularly.
She recently started hosting ‘Make Your Own Chocolate Bar’ workshops within her region and spends an ample amount of time discussing chocolate production and the different types of chocolate on the market during these events.
“A generation from now, people probably won’t associate the flavour of chocolate with what we know now,” she says.
“When I was a kid, [Cadbury] Roses didn’t taste the way they do now. Ingredients are being subbed because of rising costs. The cost of cocoa butter has gone through the roof. [Bigger] companies are reducing the amount of cocoa in their chocolates while smaller Irish chocolate companies, like ourselves, still only use premium cocoa.”
Cost increases
According to Bord Bia, these price increases are going to be a long-term problem. Issues like extreme weather events in cocoa producing countries and global supply deficits will only persist.
For small Irish chocolate companies, this means price increases across the board. It also accounts for why mainstream chocolates have lower cocoa mass content than they might have had in the past.
“You can’t grow cocoa just anywhere, it’s climate change and it’s something we can’t really control,” Anna says. “It means chocolate is [likely] going to become a real luxury.
“I would encourage consumers to support their local chocolatier,” she adds.
“If they aren’t supported, they will disappear. The money for mass-produced chocolate is leaving Ireland, and there’s an ethical side to chocolate we should all be looking at, as well.”
Ethics
The global cocoa industry is complex and riddled with humanitarian issues. Cocoa pods, which grow on trees, can only be produced within 20° of latitude from either side of the equator. The plant originated in the Amazon rainforest, but today over 80% of cocoa is produced in west Africa.
Accounts of child slavery and child labour have been documented in cocoa producing areas.
As a result, most small Irish chocolate companies choose to purchase cocoa from verified ethical sources.
“We use a premium brand called Luker, which is an ethical chocolate from Colombia,” Anna says. “It has a high cocoa content and we like its flavour profile. It works really well with our accompanying flavours.
“Luker are a really good company to support,” she continues. “They work with a lot of women-owned cocoa farms. It’s great to be able to consciously choose ethical chocolate. You might only ever buy free-range eggs, so why not be more careful about the chocolate you buy?”
Braw’s Dubai chocolate bar, €12. \ Janine Kennedy
Dubai chocolate was first created in 2021 and has now gone viral, thanks to its promotion by social media influencers. In fact, it has become so popular, many Irish chocolatiers have created their own version of the flavour.
Dubai chocolate is a milk chocolate bar filled with a combination of pistachio spread, tahini and chopped knafeh. Knafeh is a popular Middle Eastern dessert made from kadayif – a type of spun pastry which resembles noodles.
Considering its premium fillings and popularity, this chocolate does not come cheap and costs up to €25 per bar.
“Dubai is a luxury destination; maybe that’s why people are okay with paying mad money for it,” Anna says. “It’s not too far off to think that in a couple of years you might be paying this price for any quality chocolate bar, though.”
Braw have developed their own version of the viral chocolate sensation and now offer a Dubai chocolate bar (€12) with pistachio and knafeh filling. They also offer several desserts inspired by the pistachio-knafeh flavour combination. Anna says that partaking in the craze has expanded her online reach.
“I did an event recently in Newcastle West, and there were people who would never normally purchase chocolate from me coming specifically for our Dubai chocolate,” she says.
Read more
Power up: Irish protein-rich products that pack a punch
Fast to feast: a growing halal market for Irish agri-food
As Easter edges closer, chocolate greets us along the aisles of every Irish supermarket. Eggs of every size and flavour currently line the shelves, alongside those tempting ‘3 for €5’ sale signs, which can be so difficult to pass on.
You’d never begrudge the loved ones in your life their annual Easter treat, but did you know that many of the Easter eggs on the market can no longer be defined as chocolate? It’s all down to their cocoa mass percentage.
You might have seen a percentage on higher-end chocolate labels in supermarkets, or on the packaging of your favourite Irish-made chocolate. For dark chocolate, it is usually 70% or higher, while high-end milk chocolates might show percentages of around 40-45%. These percentages refer to the amount of cocoa mass present in the product.
White chocolate doesn’t contain any cocoa solids – it is made using cocoa butter – so if you see a white chocolate bar with a percentage, it refers to the percentage of cocoa butter.
In Ireland and the United Kingdom, for milk chocolate, products need to have a minimum cocoa mass of 20% to be considered chocolate. This is lower than in the rest of the European Union, where the minimum is 25%. However, much of the generic chocolate you find in supermarkets contains significantly less than the 20% required to be considered chocolate.
With less cocoa mass, these products instead use a host of other ingredients, including palm oil and shea butter, to compensate for the lack of cocoa.
One way to know you are purchasing a high-quality chocolate this Easter is to simply check the ingredients list on the product. Another way? Spend a bit more, if possible, and buy from a local Irish chocolatier.
Braw Chocolate
Anna Coffey spent years in high-end kitchens like Adare Manor and Cocoa Atelier in Dublin as a pastry chef and chocolatier. In 2020, she took a leap of faith and founded Braw Chocolate in her native Limerick.
Starting a business during the pandemic was no easy feat, but the changed mindset of Irish consumers (who were more conscious about supporting local during this time) saw her gain immediate popularity.
“We opened in July, 2020, so five years ago – which is funny; it feels like it’s just been one really long, intensive year,” she says, laughing. “The support was there from the start and it was quite intense. I don’t think that’s a normal way to begin a business.
“I wanted Braw to be recognisable, so right away I invested in professional branding. I think because of that, people thought it was bigger than it was, but it was just me. We’re still considered a very small business; there’s just two of us.”
When I was a kid, [Cadbury] Roses didn’t taste the way they do now. Ingredients are being subbed because of rising costs
Aside from her premium chocolate bars with flavours like spiced biscuit and pecan pie, Anna also offers seasonal chocolate products, like Easter eggs, and small-batch bakery items for wholesale and local collection.
“I would say the bakery is the main part of the business, while the chocolate can be more seasonal, so really the bakery side of the business helps grow the chocolate side,” she says. “Our chocolate flavours tend to link back to our bakery items, as well [pecan pie, etc].”
Anna is highly skilled in the art of chocolate-making, but she is far from a snob. She understands that there is a time to enjoy Celebrations at Christmas, or the odd Galaxy bar, but also feels there is more to consider when purchasing chocolate regularly.
She recently started hosting ‘Make Your Own Chocolate Bar’ workshops within her region and spends an ample amount of time discussing chocolate production and the different types of chocolate on the market during these events.
“A generation from now, people probably won’t associate the flavour of chocolate with what we know now,” she says.
“When I was a kid, [Cadbury] Roses didn’t taste the way they do now. Ingredients are being subbed because of rising costs. The cost of cocoa butter has gone through the roof. [Bigger] companies are reducing the amount of cocoa in their chocolates while smaller Irish chocolate companies, like ourselves, still only use premium cocoa.”
Cost increases
According to Bord Bia, these price increases are going to be a long-term problem. Issues like extreme weather events in cocoa producing countries and global supply deficits will only persist.
For small Irish chocolate companies, this means price increases across the board. It also accounts for why mainstream chocolates have lower cocoa mass content than they might have had in the past.
“You can’t grow cocoa just anywhere, it’s climate change and it’s something we can’t really control,” Anna says. “It means chocolate is [likely] going to become a real luxury.
“I would encourage consumers to support their local chocolatier,” she adds.
“If they aren’t supported, they will disappear. The money for mass-produced chocolate is leaving Ireland, and there’s an ethical side to chocolate we should all be looking at, as well.”
Ethics
The global cocoa industry is complex and riddled with humanitarian issues. Cocoa pods, which grow on trees, can only be produced within 20° of latitude from either side of the equator. The plant originated in the Amazon rainforest, but today over 80% of cocoa is produced in west Africa.
Accounts of child slavery and child labour have been documented in cocoa producing areas.
As a result, most small Irish chocolate companies choose to purchase cocoa from verified ethical sources.
“We use a premium brand called Luker, which is an ethical chocolate from Colombia,” Anna says. “It has a high cocoa content and we like its flavour profile. It works really well with our accompanying flavours.
“Luker are a really good company to support,” she continues. “They work with a lot of women-owned cocoa farms. It’s great to be able to consciously choose ethical chocolate. You might only ever buy free-range eggs, so why not be more careful about the chocolate you buy?”
Braw’s Dubai chocolate bar, €12. \ Janine Kennedy
Dubai chocolate was first created in 2021 and has now gone viral, thanks to its promotion by social media influencers. In fact, it has become so popular, many Irish chocolatiers have created their own version of the flavour.
Dubai chocolate is a milk chocolate bar filled with a combination of pistachio spread, tahini and chopped knafeh. Knafeh is a popular Middle Eastern dessert made from kadayif – a type of spun pastry which resembles noodles.
Considering its premium fillings and popularity, this chocolate does not come cheap and costs up to €25 per bar.
“Dubai is a luxury destination; maybe that’s why people are okay with paying mad money for it,” Anna says. “It’s not too far off to think that in a couple of years you might be paying this price for any quality chocolate bar, though.”
Braw have developed their own version of the viral chocolate sensation and now offer a Dubai chocolate bar (€12) with pistachio and knafeh filling. They also offer several desserts inspired by the pistachio-knafeh flavour combination. Anna says that partaking in the craze has expanded her online reach.
“I did an event recently in Newcastle West, and there were people who would never normally purchase chocolate from me coming specifically for our Dubai chocolate,” she says.
Read more
Power up: Irish protein-rich products that pack a punch
Fast to feast: a growing halal market for Irish agri-food
SHARING OPTIONS