Thanks for Musing on this subject, O Educated One! I'd like to buy some chocolate for a friend ~ She's allergic to soy and xanthan gum. Child labor and not-Fair Trade chocolate are not preferred. Any suggestions for companies I can check out?
Joy, craft/artisan chocolate typically has no soy or xantham gum, so I'd recommend pretty much any small batch craft chocolate maker. I assume your friend is here in the US? As a start, you might check out last year's Holiday Tour (see nav menu above), there are 25 different chocolates profiled. Some of my personal faves are Amano, Fruition, Elements, Raaka, and Ratza. So many different flavors and inclusions.
We even have a chocolate maker right here on Substack... have a look at Mackenzie Rivers' "Next Batch" newsletter: https://thenextbatch.substack.com/
I wrote a separate article about this very issue Shannon: https://cacaomuse.substack.com/p/how-dark-do-you-like-your-halloween (there's an embedded link in it that will take you to the full essay on OK Doomer). Yes, this is a massive issue, and one that I'm actively watching and working with a few people on ways to mitigate, so watch this space! Thank you for bringing it up here. And to clarify why the source isn't mentioned in this particular piece—it's a list of ingredients, without going into the details of where each one is typically sourced, as that would make it impossibly long.
You'll be delighted to hear that one of our upcoming featured writers on the Holiday Tour is someone very, very close to the African labor issue.
Great analysis. Where would you place the cocoa butter? It is often added to smooth the texture. Is it in Good? in Bad?
Salut Alain! Cacao butter is up there in the "Good" section :).
Thanks for Musing on this subject, O Educated One! I'd like to buy some chocolate for a friend ~ She's allergic to soy and xanthan gum. Child labor and not-Fair Trade chocolate are not preferred. Any suggestions for companies I can check out?
Joy, craft/artisan chocolate typically has no soy or xantham gum, so I'd recommend pretty much any small batch craft chocolate maker. I assume your friend is here in the US? As a start, you might check out last year's Holiday Tour (see nav menu above), there are 25 different chocolates profiled. Some of my personal faves are Amano, Fruition, Elements, Raaka, and Ratza. So many different flavors and inclusions.
We even have a chocolate maker right here on Substack... have a look at Mackenzie Rivers' "Next Batch" newsletter: https://thenextbatch.substack.com/
I wrote a separate article about this very issue Shannon: https://cacaomuse.substack.com/p/how-dark-do-you-like-your-halloween (there's an embedded link in it that will take you to the full essay on OK Doomer). Yes, this is a massive issue, and one that I'm actively watching and working with a few people on ways to mitigate, so watch this space! Thank you for bringing it up here. And to clarify why the source isn't mentioned in this particular piece—it's a list of ingredients, without going into the details of where each one is typically sourced, as that would make it impossibly long.
You'll be delighted to hear that one of our upcoming featured writers on the Holiday Tour is someone very, very close to the African labor issue.
Thank you! Very helpful you are!