Calling UK-based chocoholics!

[raincitygirl]

So, say you wanted to send someone in the UK a very special gift. VERY special, and you know they like good chocolate when they can get it. Would you go with Leonidas or Hotel Chocolat?

Amazon UK has a 500 gram box of Leonidas chocolates for 23.95 plus free delivery. It contains 30 chocolates. Alternately, Hotel Chocolat has a 350 gram box containing 27 chocolates for 22.50 plus 3.95 delivery, so 26.45 for the box. Given that the Hotel Chocolat "sleekster" box only has 3 fewer chocolates in it than the Leonidas "ballotin" box, I'm guessing that there's a lot more packaging weighing down the Leonidas box. Yes, I agree that sleekster and ballotin are pretentious words to describe boxes, but I live with it.

Yes, all the above is in pounds, not Canadian dollars. Yes, it's very fucking expensive, but it's also a very special occasion. Would you go with Leonidas or Hotel Chocolat?

Comments

[raincitygirl]

I actually don't mind a teeny hint of chili or curry in chocolate, as long as it's subtle. Of course, each individual's idea of "subtlety" varies.

I bought some half-priced chocolate at Purdys in mid-February (Purdys being a Canadian company with a "sustainable cocoa" ethos). It was 2 boxes for the price of 1, all because it was 2 days after Valentine's Day and nobody wanted to buy a box with hearts on it on February 16. When I went to the cash desk to pay, the clerk persuaded me to buy one each of their new "exotic" truffles. Not a box each, just a single chocolate each, to try them. The tiramisu truffle was delicious, but the raspberry balsamic truffle had this horribly overpowering vinegary aftertaste. Who messes up good dark chocolate with VINEGAR? I ended up spitting it out, which is not something I often do with chocolate.

[legionseagle]

To the best of my knowledge, if sustainability and fair trade are an issue, I think Hotel Chocolat may have the edge.

And my sympathies with the balsamic thing. I have the same "why?" factor with seasalt in chocolate, and since I can eat anchovies straight from the jar and spread marmite in thick slabs I'm more salt-friendly than most.

[raincitygirl]

Yup, you're quite right on that. Hotel Chocolat it is. I don't know if the recipient is especially concerned one way or the other, but I bloody am. I read an article maybe 2 years ago about how many of the confectionery companies use child slave labour in conflict zones like the Ivory Coast, and it put me right off my Mars bars. I used to be very fond of Mars bars, but slavery is bad enough, and child labour is bad enough. The combination is enough to make me not buy from them again.

And Hotel Chocolat's policy on Fair Trade TM (as opposed to plain old fair trade, as popularly known) is quite similar to that of Purdys. Purdys is a major player in the Western Canadian market, and recently expanded to Ontario, but like Hotel Chocolat, they have their own sustainability program, instead of using Fair Trade TM.

I actually know someone who works at CBC Vancouver's TV news station, and apparently they were all set to do a hard-hitting investigative piece last year on how the Purdys sustainability/ethical cocoa program is actually bollocks compared with the real Fair Trade TM. But the hard-hitting segment had to be scrapped when they started researching the Purdys position, and found that it was entirely valid. If memory serves, they had to repurpose it as a rather fluffy segment running near the end of the program, all about the good works of a big local employer. No offence to Fair Trade TM, which seems to do good work, but I can see how their program wouldn't fit a bigger player like Hotel Chocolat or Purdys.

And thank goodness, I've finally met someone ELSE who hates sea salt in chocolate. I adore chocolate, and I am fairly fond of salty stuff. But this wretched salted caramel chocolates business is just plain yucky to my taste buds.