
Chocolate is a clear example of “you get what you pay for” – while there are always exceptions, the most exquisite chocolate often costs twice, if not four times, the price of other bars. With premium products from the best small producers, you do often gain traceability to the farm, speciality bean varieties and a complexity that rivals that of the finest wines. However, much like coffee, dark chocolate also has a strong mid-range of well-certified products that also deliver on taste. That’s why supermarket own-brand speciality ranges are my usual go-tos, especially when the packaging states origin and ethical certification.
We’re pretty fanatical about chocolate in our house, so much so that I had to hide this week’s set of samples to stop us eating them all before I’d finished the tasting. Considering our steady diet of dark chocolate, I take comfort in recent studies published in Nature that found that flavonoid-rich foods – including dark chocolate, berries and tea – may support a longer, healthier life. For this reason, I usually eat 80-100%-cocoa dark chocolate, because it hits the spot without triggering sugar cravings; for most people, however, a 70% cocoa content provides the perfect balance between sweetness and intensity.
I run chocolate meditation workshops and tastings to explore the importance of terroir and biodiversity in single-origin chocolates, not least because the biodiversity and growing conditions of cacao profoundly affect its flavour, nutrition, aroma and even appearance. While genetics play a role, fermentation and drying techniques, along with each region’s soil, climate and altitude, also contribute to distinct regional flavours. For these tastings, I pinch my nose initially to focus on texture, then release it and let the chocolate melt and fill my mouth with flavour. This meditative approach helps highlight the nuanced terroir that distinguishes truly great chocolate.
Most chocolate is made from cocoa mass, or processed cocoa beans, ready to be conched and tempered. High-value bean-to-bar chocolate is different, though: the beans are roasted and processed entirely in-house, which gives the chocolatier full control and often produces a more distinctive product. Personally, I dislike too much vanilla in my chocolate, especially when it’s an artificial flavouring, because I find it can overpower the natural aromas. Some dark chocolates also contain emulsifiers such as sunflower or soya lecithins to improve texture and prevent separation. They’re generally safe, but I do think they interfere with the chocolate’s natural flavour and texture.
The overriding question, though, is, can you really taste the difference between a £2.10 bar and a £3.99 one? Let’s find out …
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The best supermarket dark chocolate
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Best overall:
Green & Black’s organic 70% cocoa dark chocolate
£2.74 for 90g at Asda (£3.04/100g)
£3.25 for 90g at Tesco (£3.61/100g)
★★★★☆
The UK’s original organic chocolate bar, founded by Craig Sams and Jo Fairley in 1991, and Fairtrade- and Soil Association-certified. Starts with vanilla, then a powerful bitter cocoa flavour builds in complexity with sour notes, before finishing on a lingering sweetness. Smooth with a quick-melting texture, and excellent value as an entry-level organic chocolate.
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Best bargain:
Waitrose 72% Belgian dark chocolate
£3.25 for 180g at Waitrose (£1.81/100g)
★★★★☆
An old-school, generously sized bar with a sweet, complex aroma and classic, smooth, bitter-cacao flavour lifted by cherry and caramel notes. Fairtrade and Tony’s Open Chain-certified, and incredible value.
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And the rest …
Willie’s Cacao 71% Sambirano Gold
£3.45 for 50g at Ocado (£6.90/100g) £3.99 for 50g at Amazon (£7.98/100g)★★★★★
A dark and complex flavour with wine notes, hints of tobacco, fermented barley mash and mulberry. Bright acidity and moreish texture. Made with single-origin trinitario beans and transparent direct trade. Expensive, but totally worth it for the incredible taste experience. Remember, less is more.
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Raw Halo 76% cocoa dark chocolate
£3.60 for 70g at Ocado (£5.14/100g) £3.60 for 70g at JoyBuy (£5.14/100g)★★★★☆
Made with raw cacao and coconut sugar, this very thin slab has a good snap, a strong coconut aroma and complex roasted cocoa. A warm, rounded flavour with a sour, fruity twang. Organic-certified and supports One Tree Planted, but broader provenance is lacking.
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Morrisons the Best 72% cocoa Dominican Republic dark chocolate
£2.40 for 100g at Morrisons (£2.40/100g)★★★☆☆
A sweet chocolate with subtle bitterness and notes of blackcurrant and cane sugar. Grown in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic – and it’s worth noting that, at this price, it is rare for a brand to disclose regional origins so specifically. Contains soya lecithin and flavouring, which does show in the taste. Fairtrade-certified.
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Menier Swiss 70% dark chocolate
£2.10 for 100g at Waitrose (£2.10/100g) £2.75 for 100g at Sainsbury’s (£2.75/100g)★★★☆☆
Technically a cooking chocolate, but nicely tempered and enjoyable straight. Vanilla dominates, but there’s also a classic bitter complexity with coffee notes. Rainforest Alliance-certified, with scant provenance details (other than that it’s made with cocoa mass from West Africa and South America). Even so, good value.
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M&S Collection 75% Ecuadorian dark chocolate
£3 for 100g at Ocado (£3/100g)★★★☆☆
An earthy flavour teases for a few seconds before delivering sour berries and finishing with a proud sweetness and classic bitter notes. Made bean-to-bar near Milan with Ecuadorian cacao, this is Fairtrade-certified and brilliant value.
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Lindt Excellence 70% cocoa dark chocolate
£3.50 for 100g at Sainsbury’s (£3.50/100g) £3.50 for 100g at Lindt (£3.50/100g)★★★☆☆
Sweet honey leads into a grapey sourness before a flat, bitter-cocoa finish. Strong vanilla notes, but it holds up well. A Swiss heritage brand with an internal sustainability strategy, though provenance and third-party certification are rather lacking.
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Divine Fairtrade 70% cocoa dark chocolate
£2.80 for 90g at Waitrose (£3.11/100g) £2.65 for 90g at Amazon (£2.94/100g)★★★☆☆
Sweet vanilla aroma with hints of smoked wood and classic roasted cacao, despite the sunflower lecithin. Farmer-owned, and both Fairtrade- and B Corp-certified, means it has strong ethical credentials that make this chocolate fantastic value.
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Montezuma’s Fitzroy 74% cocoa dark chocolate
£3.49 for 90g at Tesco (£3.88/100g) £3.50 for 90g at Ocado (£3.89/100g)★★★☆☆
Unified sweet-and-sour flavour with rich cocoa bitterness and a hint of vanilla. Slightly chalky at first bite, but quickly melts into a smooth liquid. Made in Sussex and Soil Association-certified organic, with strong sustainability credentials. Great value.