Best Chocolate Brands For Quality Ingredients

Chocolate has been a thing for thousands of years, but the vast range of dark, milk, white, and even ruby chocolate products we know and love today are largely down to Joseph Fry. In 1847, he found that adding cocoa butter helped make solid bars and voila: A multi-billion-dollar industry was born. Today, chocolate accounts for 56% of all confectionery sold in the United States, and 75% of those consumers prefer premium products.  It's easy to understand why.

There are endless chocolate bars at the cheaper end of the scale (some you might like from Aldi, some not so much), which can be loaded with sugar and flavorings. But they certainly have a place in our hearts when we want a sweet treat. However, in the U.S. and across the world, there are brands producing amazing chocolate with carefully selected ingredients — creating delicious and sometimes unique taste experiences. With that in mind, we've selected 20 chocolate brands that use the highest quality ingredients to deliver amazing flavor.

Utah-based Ritual has been in the business of making bean-to-bar chocolate since it was co-founded by Anna Seear and Robert Stout in 2010. Named in honor of the Aztec, Mayan, and Olmec ceremonies that had chocolate at their core, the company sources equitable, sustainable cacao from several countries, including Peru, Belize, and Ecuador. 

Among its wide range of beautiful-looking boxes is the limited edition Gin juniper lavender bar, made from Ritual's Mid Mountain Blend of chocolate, which has just three ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, and organic cocoa butter. It also contains juniper berries, locally-grown lavender, and gin from award-winning Utah company Alpine Distilling. Everything is aged together for six months in a gin barrel, resulting in a chocolate bar with a complex, yet sophisticated flavor.

Short for "Vallée du Rhône," the French Valrhona brand has existed in one form or another since 1922, and its chocolate has gone on to become a favorite among some of the world's finest chefs. Happily for those of us who like their snacking chocolate made with top-quality ingredients, its wide range of products is available to buy from a United States-based website.

There are lots of goodies on offer, but if you prefer dark chocolate to any other kind, Valrhona has got you covered with its Tulakalum bar. Containing a minimum 75% cacao, the ingredients list also includes cocoa beans from Belize, brown sugar, cocoa butter, and vanilla. According to the company, Tulakalum is the Mayan for "together," while the chocolate offers "aromas of ripe fruit mixed with liquorice [sic] or tonka." Chocoholics with food sensitivities beware: It has traces of nuts, gluten, milk, and soy.

Some of the best food finds come from unusual places. Take Pump Street, for example. From a pink-painted, 15th-century base in Suffolk, England, it turns out award-winning chocolate bars and products made from Ecuadorian, Grenada, and Honduran cacao. Many are wrapped in the brand's distinctive pink-colored packaging, and can be bought in the United States via the Caputo's website.

There is a range of delicious types of chocolate on offer, and Pump Street's standout ingredients include Piura Blanco, a rare Peruvian white cacao used in the 72% Don Ramon's Farm La Paraeja Peru bar, and beans from the women-run Kekeli Cooperative in its Togo bar. However, for a genuine taste of England, Pump Street's Eccles Cake bar is a must. Mixed into the 55% dark chocolate are bits of traditional cookies made with currants, raisins, butter, and brown sugar, with a dash of brandy, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

More than half the world's cocoa is produced by Ivory Coast and Ghana but Firetree, based in Cambridge in the United Kingdom, went in a different direction for its key ingredient. The bean-to-bar chocolate company uses Forastero (Amelonado) and Trinitario beans that have been grown by smallholders on remote volcanic islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Like the "terroir" of wine, the soils in these incredible locations give Firetree's chocolate a distinct flavor the company says "no ordinary bean can claim." Ironically, the award-winning 100% cocoa range, described as having "red and dark fruit notes," is not legally defined as chocolate, as it contains no sugar. It includes Thins made from Solomon Islands' cocoa, which offer "unique and complex flavours." If you want to give them a whirl, they ship internationally, including to the United States.

The wrappers on French brand Chocolat Bonnat's thick bars are so colorful and pretty, it's almost a shame to tear them open — but once tasted, you won't care. Chocoholics in the United States can get their hands on them via Bar and Cocoa, though picking just one might be a challenge.

Established in 19th century France, family-run firm Chocolat Bonnat was a leader in using single-origin beans to create chocolate bars known as "Grands Crus." Today, the company sources beans from all over the world for its products, made of minimal but high quality ingredients. Among the range is the Haiti bar, the cocoa for which is gathered with help from Veterinarians without Borders. As for the flavor? The packaging says it "offers very chocolate flavors sliding towards a tangy, citrus edge."

Founded by Bertil Åkesson and with estates in Madagascar and Brazil, the award-winning, bean-to-bar brand Åkesson's is laser-focused on the quality and sustainability of its ingredients. The results speak for themselves. Chocolate made from its beans grown in Brazil is described as "smooth, woody, earthy," while the company's milk chocolate bar is sweetened using a caramel made from boiled coconut blossom juice ground into crystals.

Åkesson's plantations don't just provide the cacao beans for their distinct square chocolate bars. Both the key ingredients in the Madagascar Trinitario & Pink Pepper bar come from the same place: Ambolikapiky. The chocolate offers hints of citrus and red berry, balanced with the pink pepper's floral touch. Åkesson's ship their range of products all over the world, and American chocolate lovers can buy them through Bar and Cocoa.

What do the crafts of boat building, woodworking, and chocolate making have in common? They're all sources of inspiration for the culinary artistry on offer at California's Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate. The company says it scours the world for the 1% of beans deemed fine or flavor grade, and uses them as the foundation of its award-winning chocolate creations. There's a lot to choose from, including chocolate-covered nuts and fruit, cocoa nibs, baking chocolate, and some next-level drinking chocolate.

As for Dick Taylor's bars, options cover both milk and dark, with extra ingredients including black fig, peanut butter, and quinoa. The company also issues seasonal products, including a Lemon & Bergamot dark chocolate bar. Made with minimum 65% Belize dark chocolate, the ingredients also include crystallized lemon and organic Bergamot, which combine to give "citrusy brightness and floral undertones."

Southeast Asian terroir and a passion for adventure are at the heart of the wide range of chocolates produced by Vietnam-based brand Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat. Founded by Frenchmen Vincent Mourou and Samuel Maruta in 2010, they began making their chocolate using a blender, an oven, and cake tins. Today, they source their beans – a bag at a time — from local suppliers, and pride themselves on using only Vietnamese ingredients for their award-winning bean-to-bar range. 

American lovers of fine chocolate can browse Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat's range at Bar and Cocoa, which includes the Marou Tien Giang Mekong Kumquat. It combines 68% cocoa, made from shade-grown Trinitario beans, with dried Calamondin kumquats — citrus fruits that come from the Mekong Delta. Described as an "incredibly complex and exotic chocolate," it is also free from peanuts, soy, and gluten.

With a name that literally means gold, Filipino bean to bar company Auro Chocolate has two goals: To create delicious chocolate products with "unique and bold tropical flavors," and care for its cacao farmers, "who are as precious as gold." The brand has created a wide range of chocolate products, from vibrantly packaged cacao nibs, and a trio of bars made with plant-based dark, milk, and white chocolate.

There's also a beautifully packaged single variety collection, offering everything from 42% to 100% cocoa, and a handful of ingredients, with only the white bar containing an emulsifier. If you love a liqueur, Auro Chocolate's small batch, 70% dark chocolate bar, infused with rum brand Don Papa – a match made in heaven — can be snapped up via Bar and Cocoa. Be aware that it does contain traces of tree nuts, milk, and peanuts.

Proof that the American entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking comes with Kentucky bean-to-bar brand Maverick Chocolate. A family-run operation, it creates chocolate that has won countless awards — and uses high quality ingredients. There are 17 bars in the 2.3-ounce range, all with snappy packaging reflecting the company's pioneering vibe. The exception is the Rüya Turkish coffee dark chocolate bar, created in partnership with Maverick, and described as "Dark as Hell, Strong as Death, Sweet as Love."

The bars themselves are made from beans sourced from several locations, including Hawaii, Vietnam, and Belize, but one of the standouts is Maverick's Prohibition milk chocolate bar. Apart from the milk powder, sea salt, and authentic Kentucky bourbon, the cocoa beans, cocoa butter, and cane sugar for this delicious-looking chocolate are all organic.

When it comes to quality ingredients, if they're regarded as rare and fine, whatever you make with them has to be worth eating, right? That's the thinking behind Gianluca Franzoni's Italian chocolate brand Domori. He established a Venezuelan nursery that grows seven types of Criollo cacao, which accounts for around 0.01% of global production. Because it has no tannins, instead of being bitter, Criollo is creamy and sweet making an amazing chocolate for all occasions.

Among Domori's range is the Criollo Guasare 70% chocolate bar. At just 50 grams, it's small but perfectly formed. It is made from cocoa paste using rare Guasare beans, which the company describes as "the mother of all varieties," and brown sugar. Domori ships worldwide, so you can enjoy a rich, creamy chocolate, bolstered by flavors of caramel, almond, and ancient rose in every savored bite.

There's no beating about the bush with ingredients and their origins at family-run, Utah-based artisan chocolatier Amano. On the back of their vividly packaged bars, wherever they can, the number of "pure and simple" ingredients is listed, so we know what we're buying. The descriptions on the website also include where the cocoa beans for each bar were sourced.

The folks behind Amano say that "quality and flavor reign supreme," and they focus on small batch products. Some have a personal touch, like their Citrus Mélange à Trois, which the description writer says is "a grown up version of the chocolate from my childhood." It combines chocolate made from Ecuadorian beans with tangerine, grapefruit, and yuzu oils, and orange fruit leather for what the company promises will be "your new favorite bar."

Not only does the incredible Vietnamese bar-to-bean operation Belvie source its Trinitario cocoa beans from across the country ... when it takes delivery of them, they are hand ground to make small batch bars of chocolate. That diversity and attention to detail is what makes their products so sought-after by chocolate lovers. Grown in seven regions of Vietnam, including Lam Dong and Tien Giang, each one brings its own unique flavor profile to every bite.

Take the Belvie Dong Nai 70% bar. The province is close to the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh City but the soil is also perfect for growing crops such as Trinitario cacao beans, and the finished bar carries "hints of citrus fruits and spices." If you want to try it for yourself, Bar and Cocoa and Chocosphere both ship Belvie chocolates to the United States.

In the rush to make great chocolate, it's easy to forget that cacao is also a very versatile fruit. But not with Brooklyn-based Raaka. They have been in business since 2010 and set themselves apart from other chocolatiers by not roasting their cacao beans, giving their products a fruity yet chocolatey edge. Raaka is also committed to "transparent trade," and provides lots of information on its site about its cacao, from its origins to how much the company paid for it.

The result is a line of chocolate bars that not only look amazing but also tempt the taste buds. Apart from one vegan-friendly white chocolate bar, their range is all dark, and includes Green Tea Crunch. It contains minimum 66% single-origin Dominican cacao, blended with genmaicha green tea, steeped in cacao butter, and mixed with puffed quinoa.

"Necessary" is the key to the ingredients used in bars made by Definite Chocolate. From their farms in the Dominican Republic, this company turns its organic single origin and single estate cacao into award-winning small batch chocolate. They only use ingredients they consider necessary and sourced in their home country, and include zero additives. 

Their range of 15 bars isn't the biggest, but there really is something for everyone. If you're a milk chocolate fan, the four-ingredient, Coconut Milk 60% Valdez Cacao bar will be just the ticket. Or you might like the Cashew Milk Chocolate with Macadamia, a vegan bar packed with crunch. For those who love chocolate dark, the 90% Mallano Dark BhonaCao has just two ingredients: Organic cacao and cane sugar. The whole range is available to American buyers via Bar and Cocoa.

If it's quality you want, it's quality you get with the craft chocolate made by Peruvian brand Maraná. Their three bar collections are made from Piura Blanco, Cusco Chuncho, and Amazonian cocoa beans respectively, as well as 100% organic ingredients. The artwork for their packaging is just as stunning, celebrating 19th-century painter Pancho Fierro, the folk art of Sarhua, and Amazonian engravings.

There are two milk chocolate bars among Maraná's range, one made with Piura Blanco, and the other with Cusco Chuncho beans. Their dark chocolates include the San Martin 80%, made from beans grown in Tarapoto in the Peruvian Amazon, and promises a "unique journey of aromas and fruity flavors." Buyers in the United States can get their hands on Maraná's extraordinary chocolate at Bar and Cocoa.

When we think of Norway, the fiddly bits of fjords and twisty crime thrillers readily spring to mind but, thanks to Fjåk, we can add chocolate to the list. They are the country's first bean to bar maker and, from their Hardangerfjord base, they blend cacao beans from "exciting origins" with "precious ingredients from the Norwegian nature."

The results are intriguing, to say the least. Fjåk's World Flavours line of bars includes Sea buckthorn & matcha, a double-sided bar offering a Japanese-Nordic flavor fusion. In the Limited Edition range, you can find Blackcurrant pie white chocolate, described as: "Creamy white chocolate paired with tart blackcurrant and a granola pie crust." If you're feeling adventurous, try the 45% milk & brown cheese, made from Haitian cacao and Norwegian goat's cheese. Find it all at Bar and Cocoa.

From a single, 140-pound bag of Venezuelan cocoa beans and a garage workshop, Washington-based, family-owned Fresco has blossomed into an award-winning business. They use cacao beans from all over the world, including Papua New Guinea, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic, while their extensive range of bars contain a handful of quality, organic ingredients.

Good examples are Fresco's Guatemala Polochic Valley 70% light roast chocolate, which the company says offers shades of "strawberry jam and graham crackers," and the Ghana 70% dark roast, which serves up "brownie-like richness and warm, nutty walnut undertones." If you love a 100% cocoa bar, they've got you covered with a range of seven bars, all containing a single ingredient: Cocoa beans. Fresco chocolate is vegan friendly, and free from nuts, soy, gluten, and dairy. 

Operating for more than 100 years, Chocolat Madagascar's approach to making chocolate is similar to that of a winemaker: It's all about the ingredients. The brand uses Criollo and Trinitario beans for its wide variety of chocolate products and, thanks to the local soil and climate, does not "chemically manipulate and enhance or even add flavours" to its chocolate, preferring to let the cacao speak for itself.

Chocolat Madagascar's range includes dark, milk, and white chocolate bars, which are available to buy through Bar and Cocoa. They include the Golden Bean-winning Dark Mava Ottange 100%, which serves up molasses-like flavor, as well as hints of purple fruits and honey. Some products do have added ingredients but exotic additions Macarena honey and Malagasy Ylang Ylang sound like they're worth breaking the rules for.

Thai company Kad Kokoa describes itself as a "pioneering bean-to-bar chocolate maker," with a focus on cacao beans grown in four provinces, and with very few added ingredients apart from locally sourced spices, seeds, or fruits. Their quirkily packaged range of square bars are as distinctive as they are delicious, and they're available to American chocolate lovers via Choc/Exchange.

Kad Kokoa's earthy yet smooth 70% Chumphon bar is a good example of their commitment to quality ingredients. It contains cacao from the Chumphon region and organic sugar — and that's it. The Khoa Milk bar offers a twist on the traditional Indian dairy staple, by thickening milk powder to give this chocolate a toasted, caramelized undertone.