Green & Black's

For some reason, I haven’t been able to find my regular Godiva dark chocolate with sea salt in stores in a while, I’m not sure why. I bought Lindt’s version again, but didn’t like it as much. So I started looking for a substitute and bought a Green & Black’s pure dark chocolate bar with sea salt, which I really liked. Then, as I was renewing stock in our emergency kit, I found two bars of Godiva, so I decided to do a side-by-side comparison.



The first thing I should point out is that Godiva appears to have changed its ingredients since I first wrote about it. It has less iron than it used to (now 15% of the daily value, when it used to be 30%), and it had also become less expensive (before it disappeared). Green & Black’s is about $5.00 a bar, and bars are ever so slightly smaller than Lindt or Godiva (90 g., versus 100 g. for both others). That being said, it is ethically sourced cocoa, so I’m guessing that’s where most of the money goes. Serving sizes are similar (4 squares, with 2.5 servings per bar), so I don’t notice the difference in size. Green & Black’s is technically vegan, though processed on equipment that also comes in contact with milk and tree nuts. It has more calories, and those seem to come mostly from fat – but it’s cocoa butter, which is a vegetable fat and in my mind is similar to coconut oil or avocado, so it’s a good fat and I’m not worried (if I’m wrong, please don’t shatter my illusion). The cocoa butter gives it a smooth mouthfeel and enhances the flavor. It’s also got significantly less sugar than the other brands, about half as much, but is still very good – I normally prefer lower percentages of cocoa, but I really like this. And it’s got 25% of the daily value of iron, which is nice.

So if I see my Godiva again, I’d certainly stock up, but for now, Green & Black is my go-to evening treat.

On a side note, I also tried Alter Eco’s Dark Salted Brown Butter Organic Chocolate bar and loved it. It may not be strictly lactose-free (it contains butterfat), but I stuck to 2 squares per serving and didn’t have any symptoms. The chocolate is smooth and tastes more like caramel than browned butter, but is very enjoyable!