X vs Y

In X vs Y, I compare different brands from the same category of product and rate them on environmentalism, useability and price.

Previous X vs Y's...

This month: Organic Chocolate vs Regular Chocolate...

To give each type of chocolate a fair chance, I first had my testers try the chocolates by simply eating them straight from the bar. Then I did a further comparison of some types of chocolate by making chocolate fruit and nut clusters with the chocolates and trying those out (what can I say- it's a tough job, but someone has to do it...).

General conclusions can be found at the bottom of the page.

First, a bit about organic chocolate:

Chocolate is made from cacao beans, which are harvested from the cacao tree. Generally speaking, organic chocolate is considered to be 'environmental' because the cacao beans are produced without (or with fewer) pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. This reduces the quantity of chemicals that a particular cacao bean farm will be releasing into the surrounding environment.
So, from an environmental point of view, organic chocolate is helping to preserve the eco-systems in those countries where chocolate is grown by reducing the amounts of toxic chemicals that get put into those environments (i.e. into the earth, air, water and organisms).
Cacao farms may also employee sustainable farming principles, which involve farming in a way that maintains the fertility of the soil, preserves animal habitats and improves the long term viability of the farming operation. This isn't guaranteed by the organic label, though.
Some chocolates may also be labelled 'fair trade chocolate', which means that the cacao farmers are payed a fair and stable price for their cacao beans. It's possible for a particular type of chocolate to be fair trade but not organic, or organic and not fair trade.

Test 1: Eating the chocolate straight from the bar

In this case, 3 tasters did blind taste tests to compare milk chocolate bars and 70% cocoa chocolate bars. Cadbury Milk Chocolate
Description:milk chocolate, % cocoa unknown, non-organic, non-fair trade,
Price:0.99/42g bar, 2.35/100g

Cocoa Camino Milk Chocolate:
Description:milk chocolate, 38% cocoa, certified organic, 70% fair trade certified ingredients
Price:3.95/100g bar, 3.95/100g

Lindt Excellence Extra Fine Dark Chocolate, 70% Cocoa:
Description:dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, non-organic, non-fair trade Price:2.99/100g bar, 2.99/100g

Endangered Species Chocolate, Premium Organic 70% Cocoa:
Description:dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, certified organic, "100% ethically traded" according to label, "10% of net profits donated to help support species, habitats and humanity" according to label.
Price:, 1.99/40g bar, 4.97/100g

Chocolate Bar Taste Test Results:

I convinced three people to try out my different types of chocolate. I asked them to rate the chocolate on a scale of 1 to 5, in order to get a sense for which chocolate they liked better, and then we had a discussion about their subjective experiences of the chocolate. Not overly rigorous from a scientific perspective- but consider this a 'preliminary study'.

The general consesus was that all of the chocolate was tasty and enjoyable- except for one taster, who flat out didn't like the Endangered Species chocolate, due to what he described as an "herbal taste". Tasters also preferred the dark chocolate over the light chocolate, generally speaking.

The different types of chocolate did seem to have notably different tastes. Interestingly, with one exception- where, contrary to the earlier taster, one taster preferred the Endagered Species Chocolate over the Lindt Chocolate- tasters slightly preferred the non-organic chocolates. Upon discovering this, the tasters were quite disconcerted, thus indicating their initial biases! They argued that the only reason they liked the non-organic chocolate was because it was what they were used to eating, and stressed that the chocolates were quite similar.

Test 2: Fruit and nut chocolate clusters

In this case, chocolate was melted in a double boiler, spoonfuls were dripped on to a cookie sheet, and peanuts were added to the blobs of choclate. We only had one official taste tester for this test, so clearly more tests need to be done.

Semi-Sweet Bulk Chocolate
Description: Large chunks of bulk semi-sweet chocolate
Price: roughly 50 cents/100g

Semi-Sweet Baker's Chocolate
Description: Squares of Baker's semi-sweet chocolate, non-organic, non-fair-trade
Price: 4.19/225g, 1.86/100g

Cocoa Camino Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
Description: chocolate chips, certified organic, certified fair-trade
Price: 5.99/227g, 2.63/100g

Chocolate Nut Cluster Taste Test Results:

The rater liked the Cocoa Camino and Baker's chocolate nut clusters roughly the same amount (the Cocao Camino was rated around 3.5, the Baker's around 4, with the cheap bulk chocolate coming in a distant third at 2.

General Conclusions:

Without a doubt, you'll pay more for organic chocolate. In the case of bars, this can be as much as 70 cents extra for each 100g. In the case of organic chips vs Baker's chocolate squares, the price difference was less- 40 extra cents for every 100g. With respect to useability, the chocolate chips measured up quite well to the Baker's chocolate, whereas the organic bars weren't rated quite as highly as the non-organic bars. From this perspective, using organic chocolate for baking might be the way to go.

From an environmental perspective, choosing organic chocolate gives you the opportunity to help preserve eco-systems in chocolate growing countries and reduce farmers' exposure to dangerous pesticides while you're at it. Combine this with fair trade chocolate, and your helping out on a social activism front as well. Given the large demand for chocolate in 'developed countries', and its value as a commodity, this could make a significant difference. All food for thought.