Most 70% dark chocolates actually contain less than 70% cocoa beans, the remainder being cocoa butter which could be as high as 20%. Taking advantage of regulations which allow this, brands add cocoa butter to mask the bitterness of inferior cocoa beans. We use high quality cocoa beans with low bitterness and hence all our 70% and above dark chocolates have the same percentage of beans inside as is mentioned on the pack.
70% dark chocolate already has a low GI (23–25) and low GL (3–4 per 30g serving), thanks to butter and fiber from cacao beans. This is considered safe for diabetics when consumed in moderate portions. Replacing sugar with date powder, which is still about 75% sugar, to shave these numbers down slightly is classic health halo marketing.
There's another hidden problem: too much fiber can ruin the flow and moldability of dark chocolate, forcing makers to replace cacao beans with cocoa butter to keep the fiber balanced. That's a bad trade-off. Cacao is far more nutrient-dense than date powder, so you're sacrificing nutrition for health halo.
Want less sugar? Skip the gimmicks and choose a higher-percentage dark chocolate to enjoy more of cacao's health benefits.
At the 2025 International Chocolate Awards, of the 35 Golds, not one was won by a Belgian or Swiss chocolate maker! Conventionally, the Swiss and Belgians have been known for chocolate - thanks to their marketing prowess. However, just like in the wine industry, newer regions are emerging as producers of exceptional chocolate. So the next time you buy a premium chocolate, pay more attention to the product and the maker, than to the country it was made in.
That used to be the case in an era when a Rs 10 chocolate bar was a luxury for most in India. Couverture only means that the chocolate contains cocoa butter and no vegetable oil. It totally ignores the quality of cocoa beans that the chocolate is made from. Most coverture chocolates are made from average quality cocoa beans and hence do not have the flavor complexity of a farm to bar chocolate. Careful harvesting, fermentation and drying of cocoa beans makes for a chocolate full of character owing to its flavor complexity and depth.
That’s actually wholly untrue. It’s only dark chocolate that’s made from poor quality cocoa beans that is bitter. We farm and process our cocoa beans with great scrutiny, so our fine flavour cocoa beans are way less bitter and instead have complex flavours that add character to our chocolate. Pay close attention and you’ll discover fruity, floral or spicy undertones while savouring Paul and Mike dark chocolates.
Africa is indeed the largest producer of cocoa beans and supplies to some of the largest mass chocolate makers. Naturally then, Africa has come to be marketed by them as the source of best cocoa beans. In reality, all cocoa producing regions produce varying qualities of cocoa beans, and so does Africa. But don’t take our word for it – how about the fact that out of the 18 winners at the 2019 Cocoa of Excellence Awards, only 4 were from Africa! The quality of cocoa is determined less by where it is grown, and more by how it is grown, harvested and processed. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what makes a chocolate average, better or simply the best.
Unfortunately, what you’re paying for isn’t better chocolate, ingredients or expert making, but exorbitantly high import duties and transportation costs. Most foreign chocolates available in India are considered strictly mediocre in their home countries. With our chocolate, you’re paying for top drawer stuff – fine flavour cocoa beans, ‘Honest Ingredients’ and expertise.
Clickbait journalism has long plagued our newsfeeds, and the scare about dark chocolate's high lead and cadmium content is no exception. These claims are based on California's Prop 65 benchmark, which sets daily limits for heavy metals so low that even a daily serving of rice and lentils would exceed them. This benchmark fails the test of reasonableness, and its use to demonize dark chocolate is pure nonsense.
Fortunately, FDA has set more scientifically sound limits and all dark chocolates from reputable brands satisfy these. So, let's celebrate the bittersweet joy of dark chocolate without the bitter lies.