We place a great deal of importance on our ingredients. That goes right the way through from what we use, and who we source it from, to where it is grown. We strive to use as few ingredients as possible in our treats, so we have to be sure that what we do use, is the best we can possibly find.
Our ice cream
Avocado probably seems a pretty strange choice when setting out to make an ice cream, but for us it was a natural fit right from the start. We wanted something that had nutritional benefits, but that also helped lend a creamy texture to our ice cream, as we'd be losing this by taking out the dairy. Choosing which sweetener to use posed a few trickier questions. While there are a lot of alternatives to sugar we were keen to choose the healthiest possible option. While we understand that sugar is sugar in most instances, there are definite benefits and drawbacks depending on the source and processing inensity/method. We met with a number of people in the health field, from nurses to nutritionists and honey was the most popular suggestion. This is what we opted for ultimately. More recently we have spent a lot of time developing our ice creams further to make sure our flavours were more vegan friendly, and so started using coconut sugar as an alternative to honey for most of our flavours.
Our ultimate aim when setting out to create Nobó CHOC was to reproduce the luxurious creaminess of a fine swiss chocolate, without the dairy and using far less sugars. Not the easiest task in the world!
While we had tried some vegan chocolates on the market, we were struggling to find one that still delivered the indulgence and creaminess we wanted, and often those that were available were packed full of sugar and processed ingredients. We were desperate to avoid that grainy dry texture that the majority of bars on the market seemed to have...hopefully we got there in the end. We certainly hope so anyway, it only took two years of trying!!
We also use A LOT less sugar, in fact 70% less than a bar of milk chocolate. That’s massive. And we steer clear of refined white sugar in place of unrefined organic coconut sugar which is a little gentler in the body.
Whats more, we only use single origin organic cocoa beans from a plantation near Virunga National Park in The Congo. Cacao trees are planted in the buffer zone around the Virunga National Park to help create a sustainable source of income for the local communities and protect the last remaining gorillas. We work with a coop to buy this cocoa and they have a very robust program to assist farmers in cocoa cultivation, fermentation and processing, and comply with organic and fair for life certification. The premiums obtained via the sales of cocoa are re-invested in the region and we are delighted to see it is already having a really positive impact on the farming community there.
HI
I love your chocolate and want to send some to a friend who cannot eat normal chocolate. But the reason she can’t is because of the ascorbic acid (vit C) that apparently is used in the making of chocolate. So my question is do you use the same in the making of your chocolate.
thanks
Dee