FAQs

• FAQs 11

FAQs

• I am interested in selling your product. How do I get in touch?

  You can contact us at [email protected] or [email protected] for outside of the UK, to enquire about selling our products.

• Are your chocolates from a single origin?

  No. We have carefully selected our cacao from organic, Rainforest Alliance-certified plantations in Ecuador and Dominica. After tasting various combinations of cacao varieties (Criollo, Forastero, Trinitario) and origins, we chose this specific blend because of the beautiful flavour, and because having a blend creates a more consistently delicious taste. We may collaborate with individual small-holding plantation owners such as with our friend Don Jose in Chiapas, Mexico to create special unique editions in future, to showcase incredible regenerative plantations and the delicious tastes of cacao from the origins of chocolate creation and consumption. While being Rainforest Alliance certified is a given for us, our priorities are and will always be delicious taste and nutritiousness.

• Are your products vegan?

  Our dark chocolates and almond butter chocolate are all vegan. Our milk and matcha chocolates are vegetarian.

• What is your stance on eating fruit?

  Fruit is healthy to consume in moderation. Berries (e.g. wild blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries) are particularly nutrient-dense and low in fructose (sugar) whereas ripe bananas and grapes are relatively low in fibre while being high in fructose (sugar). Guidelines such as 7 portions of fruit and veg a day ought to specify that 90% of those should be vegetables, in particular greens.

• Why did you choose stevia instead of other natural sweeteners like monk fruit?

  We have always been and will always be open-minded to any ingredients that we feel support human health and help to create delicious tastes. After reading copious amounts of research, we concluded that stevia was a health-supporting plant that even has medicinal properties. While doing recipe R&D, we found that we did not like the taste of the stevia forms and extracts on the market, until we came across uniquely organic water-only-extracted stevia by SWT Stevia. Their stevia extract is created through a process that only involves water, from start to finish, resulting in a stevia extract that is biochemically intact (as in the natural leaf), and tastes smooth and sweet, with no strange aftertastes. We learnt that this is because all other stevia suppliers use harsh chemicals to extract their stevia (or even grow it in the lab, without growing the stevia plant at all), and this results in an extract with a different biochemical structure, and different taste. SWT Stevia do fundamental research on metabolism and taste receptors – they care about the healthfulness and taste as the pinnacle priorities, as do we. We did experiment with monk fruit, but found that on balance, it had some aftertaste and unpleasant notes compared to our stevia. In addition to all of the promising health research on stevia (that we read, and conduct ourselves), its long history of consumption by humans (even featuring in the Ancient Mayan story of the Popol Vuh) encourages us in our conclusion that it is not only safe, but beneficial to human health. We choose our particular stevia, because we find it is the most delicious sweetening ingredient.

• Why don’t you use artificial sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose etc.?

  See this page on why we avoid artificial sweeteners.

• Does eating non-nutritive (non-caloric) sweeteners of any kind lead to the body ‘thinking’ it will get sugar and does this then have adverse health consequences when the body does not ‘get’ the energy it is expecting?

  We have yet to find any research evidence to support this. HOWEVER, EVEN IF there were evidence to support this, it would not apply to our food products, because they do contain nutrients and energy in the form of healthy protein, fats and carbohydrate too, so the body does ‘get’ energy from them. This question is more relevant to ask when considering zero-calorie sweetened drinks.

• Why is fibre relevant?

  We feel fibre is the most undervalued macronutrient, and many people lack fibre in their diets. Fibre is essential for intestinal health and intestinal health is vital for overall health. Soluble and insoluble fibre help to support a healthy gut microbiome, digestive function as well as intestinal barrier function. In addition to natural fibre in cacao, we include chicory root fibre and inulin from the agave plant. Inulin is a prebiotic fibre that tends to shift the balance of the microbiome towards beneficial Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. There is also evidence that it encourages satiety and suppresses appetite, leading to weight loss and natural reduction in food intake.

• Why do you only use organic ingredients?

  We go to great lengths to carefully select our ingredients and suppliers meticulously. We ourselves wish to eat food that has been grown organically, without the use of pesticides. We believe careful selection like this contributes towards promoting human health and environmental sustainability. We also believe ingredients grown organically are generally more nutritious.

• Are your products low-carb? Do they have a low glycemic load?

  Our products are low-carb due to their high fibre content and lack of sugar (sucrose, fructose). The combination of ingredients leads to a product with a low glycemic load (i.e. will not spike your blood sugar). Important: remember that fructose does not have a high glycemic index however, so glycemic load is not the only criterion to consider. Look for fructose-free or very low-fructose-containing foods that are high in fibre.

• Can I eat your products if I have diabetes or am pre-diabetic?

  Yes. All of our products are high in fibre, low in carbohydrates and are either sugar-free (free of both sucrose and fructose) or very low (<5g/100g) in naturally occurring sugars (such as lactose in milk). They will not contribute to insulin resistance. They do still contain glucose, as do vegetables and most foods. See this page on Sugar for more information about why we are ok with having some glucose in our products, but not sucrose nor fructose.