Little chocolate enterprises want our assistance today more than ever. Thus, in order to make your Christmas shopping simpler (and in the spirit of the season), here are the finest sites to purchase artisan chocolate online. We go from Amazon’s top craft chocolate to online craft chocolate businesses (sorted by country and region). There are also unique chocolate gifts and bean to bar chocolate subscription boxes for chocolate enthusiasts.
My emphasis is on bean-to-bar, handmade chocolate manufacturers that are recognized for concentrating on the quality and ethics of the cacao beans used to create their artisanal bars, as well as the distinctive tastes contained inside. Thus, when I first found handmade chocolate on Amazon, I spent hours sifting through the many alternatives. Most internet handmade chocolate vendors could only afford to offer to their local market until a few years ago, so international possibilities were limited.
There are now hundreds of online handmade chocolate sellers, presents for chocoholics, and individual bars available on Amazon.
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7 Ways Chocolate Shops Can Get Consumers
The peak season has here, and everything from increasing your social media game to conducting freebies and discounts is in full swing! Remember that by supporting small local companies, you are helping your neighbors who work there as well as the ambitions of the folks who created the company. The epidemic has really been a godsend for individuals who like to shop chocolate online, although filling orders is exhausting work.
My family isn’t big on dining out, and we only purchase chocolate online or in person on exceptional occasions. Yet, over the past year and a half, I’ve sent more chocolate to friends and family than I can count, and these are the strategies that got me through the epidemic, too.
- Put up less expensive versions of products on your website, sans packaging & bundled in special sets, like French Broad Chocolate’s “Naked Bars” sets, which just feature their inner wrapping.
- Sell virtual gift cards in the form of a code that can be redeemed on a later date, preferably a much later date, like at The Chocolate House in DC.
- Offer free local delivery and contactless pickup on-site from your factory, or even just bundled delivery with nearby local businesses, like restaurants and other small artisans.
- Automatically apply free shipping to all domestic orders over a certain amount, like Madhu Chocolate is doing for orders over $50.
- Keep a pop-up on your site, offering a discount on customers’ entire order for the duration of a specific month.
- Do weekly or bi-weekly scheduled online chocolate tastings with customers, like Chocolate Noise did with some makers she’s partnered with. Makers can offer special weekly tasting bundles for loyal customers to purchase and participate. Dandelion Chocolate also did monthly virtual tastings, sharing bars made by other makers who use the same origins as they do, tasted together with the actual farmers who produce the cacao.
- Create new and unique products, like the chocolate bread from Bellflower Chocolate, a limited-edition creation which was delivered by bike in the Seattle area.
Online Chocolate Purchase (Amazon)
Not only can you purchase handmade chocolate online, but many of these bars are also available straight from the creators. While Amazon still gets a share, the ease of buying for everything in one location has introduced many more consumers to high-quality chocolate. These are some of the most enticing bars I’ve had the pleasure of tasting throughout the years.
Bars of Dark Craft Chocolate
Pralus Chocolate, Madagascar 75%: Crafted with cacao from Francois Pralus’ own farm in Madagascar, this bar is bright and robust, yet unquestionably delicious. This is one of my favorite Pralus origins, made in the classic French method with additional cocoa butter and a darker roast. You can read my complete evaluation here.
Belizean Dick Taylor 72%: Not only is their packaging beautiful, but it is also useful! Their Belize is crafted with cacao from Maya Mountain Cacao, a farmer cooperative in southern Belize that produces some of my favorite single origin chocolate. This is a bar I can’t wait to add back to my collection, with chocolaty base notes and a fruity finish.
Pacari, Fig Bar 60%: My mother’s favorite Pacari bar. When I lived in Ecuador, I tasted every bar in his collection at the time, and this was one of the most popular among my friends. The fig taste comes from dried fruit chunks, which contrast wonderfully with the sweet 60% chocolate that defines all of this Ecuadorian maker’s flavored bars. It’s a very reasonable introduction to handmade chocolate, made further better by the fact that it’s manufactured in the nation of origin. You can read my complete evaluation here.
Milk Chocolate Craft Bars
Michel Cluizel, Milk Salted Butter Caramel 45%: Gourmet milk chocolate almost seems like a misnomer, but if you’ve heard of Michel Cluizel, you know it’s far from that. This darker milk chocolate has the sweetness of regular milk chocolate, but with a richer taste and crispy chunks of French-style caramel. You would never use this bar to make smores.
Malted Milk French Broad Chocolates 44%: As in love with this business and their online chocolate shop as I have been for the last half decade, a few nibbles of this bar will have you on board the love train as well. Imagine your childhood malted milk balls getting a grown-up makeover that not only tasted more like chocolate, but also had the ethics of Mother Teresa. You can read my whole evaluation of the brand here.
69% Manoa, Goats Milk Chocolate: It’s tough (read: impossible) to stress how much I like this bar, not because of who created it, but because it’s so addicting. Despite the high cacao content, the goats milk lends a delicate spiciness that complements the sweet cocoa in this milk chocolate. Even better, at 69% cacao, it’s essentially a health food. You can read my complete evaluation here.
White Chocolate Craft Bars
Omnom Chocolate, Lakkris + Sea Salt: Omnom has been creating waves in the handmade chocolate industry for quite some time, most notably with their inventive inclusion bars. This one in particular tastes like home, with salty licorice in the front and delicious melty white chocolate in the background. Bonus: the box design will absolutely blow you away!
Fruition, Toasted White: Although it has been popular in recent years to make a browned butter milk chocolate, I have yet to learn why caramelized white chocolate is still unusual. The caramel taste of this toasted white chocolate indicates that this delicious delight should be accessible everywhere.
White Chocolate Milkboy Milkboy is a relative newcomer to the fine chocolate industry, and their bars are more inexpensive on supermarket shelves, but they still produce a good product. This specific bar is a sweet and milky white chocolate that lives up to the brand’s name and the Swiss ideal of a really milky chocolate. It manages to combine a delectable chocolate scent with a smooth texture and a dairy-rich aftertaste.
Bars of Raw Vegan Handmade Chocolate
Raw cuisine, particularly raw sweets, is gaining popularity in the vegan, paleo, and raw food communities. This fixation has spread to chocolate, and the originators of this movement are none other than Raaka. The Brooklyn-based firm has been producing raw vegan chocolate for many years and has just entered the Amazon market, where you can purchase chocolate from a variety of retailers.
This Best Sellers Trio has a diverse range of tastes from the creamy chocolate of the coconut milk bar to the mild acidity of the pink sea salt bar and the robust whiskey tones of the bourbon barrel aged bar. This would be a wonderful Christmas surprise! See my review of another Raaka bar, their Strawberry Basil, here.
Top Chocolate Websites Online
Here are a collection of websites where you can get chocolates online and have them delivered right to your door, selected in the same way I did above, but with a far larger variety. When feasible, I prefer buying directly from the creators, so check out this list of Fine Chocolate Industry Association members that create chocolate.
Since the artisan chocolate market in North America is broader than everywhere else, you’ll notice that they offer a considerably wider assortment than the greatest online chocolate websites listed below. Nonetheless, regardless of where a chocolate store is situated, if they provide a variety of worldwide shipping options, I have highlighted their listing.
Make Chocolate Online in North America
- *Bar & Cocoa (the US, the largest place to buy chocolates online in the US and growing; also has a monthly subscription box)
- *Caputo’s (the US, large selection with a beautiful assortment of other gourmet foods to choose from; they’ve gotten my orders wrong in the past, but seem to be working on improving fulfillment)
- Chocosphere (the US, very large selection)
- The Chocolate House (the US, medium-large selection, including bonbons from around a dozen chocolatiers)
- The Meadow (the US, quite a large selection with an NYC-based retail store to match, and exclusive rights to sell a number of small makers)
- Yahara Chocolate (the US, a medium-sized selection including some chocolate candy bars & a slew of Wisconsin specialties)
- ChocExchange (Canada & the US, prices are a bit high, but the selection is exclusive to high-quality and well-known craft chocolate makers; also have a monthly subscription box)
- Chocolate Collective (Canada, quite large selection of craft chocolate makers with generally a few different bars available from each)
- État De Choc (Canada, can buy chocolate online from a very large international selection of makers + their own cacao-based creations)
- Origins Chocolate Bar (Canada, very large selection of makers from around the world)
Make Chocolate Online in Europe
- ChocoHunter (Russia, a small but growing collection of Russian-made craft chocolates)
- Chocoladeverkopers (Netherlands, with shipping throughout Europe and international shipping by special request; over 300 different bars on offer)
- Chocolate7 (Italy, with a physical retail shop in Turin; decent selection of many brands, as well as tastings & other events in their shop)
- Club Del Chocolate (Spain, bars & cacao-based ingredients from several dozen international craft chocolate brands; there’s even a cute scale for choosing the percentage range you’re interested in)
- *Cocoa Runners (UK, with shipping throughout Europe and a very wide selection; Cocoa Runners is always a solid bet)
- Darkest Desire (Hungary, a limited selection that has been growing over the last few months)
- Sekrety Czekolady (Poland, quite a decent-size collection of all bean to bar)
Make Chocolate Online in Asia
- The Chocolate Club (Hong Kong)
- Beans To Bars (Singapore)
- *Hello Chocolate (Singapore)
- Tomoe Saveur (Japan)
- Cacao Culture PH (Philippines)
Make Chocolate Online in Oceania
- Bean Bar You (Australia)
- Cocoa Box (Australia)
- The Chocolate Bar (New Zealand)
Chocolate Subscription Kits Handmade
or a subscription service. Nonetheless, many businesses have been striving for years to provide the greatest chocolate subscription boxes for their local market. There are several artisan chocolate subscription boxes available these days, and it is fashionable to purchase chocolates online for friends and family. A couple of the above-mentioned online artisan chocolate suppliers also have a physical shop.
Depending on when you anticipate you’ll need another treatment, deliveries vary from once a month to once every three months. Subscribing to a manufacturer or service is not only a kind present for yourself or a loved one, but it is also an opportunity to vote with your money for better chocolate. Put your money where your mouth is, as the saying goes. The following are eight noteworthy subscriptions to consider joining or giving as a present, both through chocolate stores and directly from the creators.
3 bars sent every other month for a total of $300 USD every year. Lonohana, one of Hawaii’s original chocolate producers, crafts their distinctive chocolate bars from their own Hawaiian cacao beans as well as hand-selected beans from throughout the globe. Milk and dark chocolates are among them, with the odd addition of another Hawaiian ingredient. Lonohana’s bars began off wonderful and have aged nicely; if you want to experience Hawaii for less than the cost of a plane trip, I definitely suggest buying in this subscription box. There are also 6- and 9-bar subscriptions available. Lonohana
3 bars supplied monthly for a total of $75USD. Raaka has been crushing the creative game since its inception in 2010, releasing new releases every month, exclusively to their First Nibs subscription box customers. Raakas bars, known as the unroasted chocolate firm, will likely not appeal to everyone, but the flavors they provide may blow your mind. Anybody for a Turmeric Latte or a Waffle Cone bar? Raaka
3-5 bars sent monthly for $30 USD. Kekao is one of the numerous handmade chocolate subscription boxes that have sprung up in recent years. The box is selected with the purpose of extending your taste for far less than the cost of a plane ticket. It was started by a chocolate fan who knew what he wanted but couldn’t seem to get it. Currently, we only ship to Canada and the United States. Kekao Co., Ltd.
3 bars every month, for a total of 20 per month. You could have three bars of excellent artisan chocolate sent to your French address for three, six, or twelve months of the year! Except for July and August, this small France-based company delivers a magnificent variety of chocolates from across the globe to your door every month. Tell Me A Chocolate Story
$38USD for four bars once a month. This US-based firm ships boxes of four or ten bars at the start of each month, with savings for buying for many months in advance. Shipping to Canada is available for an additional $20 each month. Cococlectic
Every two months, 10 smaller bars and then three huge bars are sent, totaling $165CHf for the year. To begin with, Choba Choba exclusively ships to Liechtenstein and Switzerland (where they make their chocolate). Having said that, the Swiss business is bringing fine chocolate back to the location where it is supposed to have never departed. Choba Choba has made it their objective to work solely with chocolate enthusiasts who share their ideal of better chocolate and communities, using cocoa from the two Peruvian farms with whom they exclusively work. Their award-winning cocoa and chocolates, I believe, demonstrate that this ideal is becoming a reality. Choba, Choba, Choba
$25CAD for three bars once a month. This Canada-based subscription business, undoubtedly handmade chocolate-focused, has the market heading in the right way. If you want to make the ultimate chocolate subscription box for a pal, the business also curates boxes of 4 or 5 bars, each of which costs $10CAD more than the basic bundle. Cocoa messengers
Price is unknown for three, six, or twelve months of chosen artisan chocolate bars. Chocolatl, one of Europe’s few retail businesses that offers delivery, has been conquering its home base of the Netherlands with a broad array of handmade chocolate bars that are well worth the risk. Buying a selection from them many years ago remains one of the nicest chocolate subscription boxes I’ve ever gotten, but just once! Chocolatl
Artisan Chocolate Purchasing Advice
Hundreds of choices, large and little, go into the artisan chocolate bar you’re going to purchase, from what cacao varietals to plant and when to harvest to how long to roast beans and the font size on the wrapper. As a result, you, the customer, must now make some choices of your own. To assist you in making your selection, I’ve defined the different components of a chocolate bar, as well as how to determine your preferences even if you’ve never tasted anything like it before.
Chocolate Type
Whether white, milky, or dark (or ruby, sort of). It seems to be a simple idea that you would have a favorite, but for me, it depends on my mood. Some days I want something sweet, so I drink milk or dark milk, and other times I want something truly chocolaty, so I drink dark or 100% chocolate.
Choose how much sweetness you want and base your purchase on that; whites and milks are sweeter than darks owing to the amount of the bar that is made up of sugar. Yet, there are also extremely mild dark chocolates that taste like milk chocolate and are fairly healthy, as well as dark milk chocolates that taste like dark chocolate.
Cacao Content
The proportion on the label simply indicates how much of the bar is made up of cacao derivatives, including cacao solids and cacao butter. In practice, a 55% dark milk chocolate recipe may consist of 25% cacao beans, 30% cacao butter, 15% whole milk powder, and 30% white sugar. This implies that someone who typically consumes dark chocolate may be shocked by the richness of milk chocolate, and vice versa.
When purchasing artisan chocolate online for someone else, it’s a good idea to try a couple items in the center of the % scale. The same is true for you. If you ask the merchant if they have any ideas for someone new to making chocolate, I’m sure you’ll receive a long list of suggestions. If they suggest it, don’t be scared to go dark since some black chocolates are really mild.
Cacao Plantation
There are several cacao origins available today, each with its own reputation, however there are always exceptions to the norm (especially as you get into single-region or single-plantation bars). Nutty tastes are frequent in Ecuadorian beans, smoky flavors in Papua New Guinean beans, and fruity flavors in Madagascar beans.
Once you’ve sampled enough bars to know your preferences for (or against) certain flavor notes, it’s worth getting to know these reputations a little more. It’s always a good party trick to discuss cacao origin trends! Even better, research cacao brands and choose a preferred cocoa bean producer.
Manufacturer of Chocolate
Much as in sports, some individuals will be better than others at the skill of chocolate manufacturing. Some individuals have preferred manufacturers, so conduct some research into who the professionals like. Several producers offer fantastic subscription packages that would make an excellent present for yourself or someone else worthy; check above for more information. I won’t mention any of the producers I don’t like, but here are few to check into if you’re new to artisan chocolate bars: Escaz, Solstice, Patric, and Manoa.
Chocolate Cost
Some bars are worth the outrageous price tag, but others aren’t. It is up to you to choose which are worthwhile for you. If a bar is fantastic enough, I’ll pay up to $15 per drink. Other individuals, however, do not share this viewpoint and are unconcerned if a bar costs $2 or $20 as long as it includes chocolate and sugar. Thus, as my buddy Lowe (Choco Files) puts it, know your audience and establish your own price to pleasure index.
Chocolate Ingredients
tastes in the chocolate. Are you allergic to anything or seeking for a certain flavor? Do you want your bar to have a certain texture, such as the crunch of nuts or the chewiness of dried fruit? It will mostly depend on whether you like a single origin or something more aesthetically inventive. To learn more about inclusions, read this article on what they are and why you should use them, but it all comes down to additional ingredients.
Idiosyncrasies of Buyers
Ask yourself whether you’re only searching for a lovely present for a friend’s baby shower or anything similar. Do you have a relative that like particular colors but isn’t very concerned about flavor? Or do you wish to avoid unusual tastes like lemongrass or rose petals, maybe owing to an allergy or reluctance to change? Do you want something created locally or using beans from a certain origin? There is a great list of questions to ponder if you are serious about getting the right gift.
Chocolate Storage Best Practices
Keep your bars or truffles in a dry room temperature setting, such as a cabinet or on top of the fridge, in the hopes that they will last longer than a few days. Put the open bars in a Tupperware or other plastic container.
Even if they’re open, bars should endure for a few months or more if left alone. Since most chocolate is aged before it is packaged and sold on the open market, further aging your chocolate may not be a bad thing! Nevertheless, leaving chocolate at severe temperatures is dangerous since it may cause it to melt or crack. Literally.
Have fun shopping! If you have any questions, please shoot me a note or check out one of my other resource sites. Check out my chocolate tasting guide for advice on purchasing handmade chocolate online or elsewhere so you may discover what you want out of good chocolate. If you know of any additional bars that should be on this list, please let us know in the comments! I’m constantly seeking for good choices to share with you.
Learn more about chocolate travel, the next phase in your chocoholic adventure, by clicking here!
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