Quality Christmas Chocolates that are healthy

Rococo Chocolates is a London-based chocolatier with a number of boutique shops in prime parts of London including Chelsea, Belgravia and Marylebone. Rococo has been a renowned brand for over three decades that sells globally online, with major retailers like Liberty and Selfridges while at the same time supporting ethical trade for cocoa farmers. Its products contain Maltitol (E965) a naturally occurring sugar, made from corn which has has 90% of the sweetness of sucrose but with half the calorific value.

This Christmas there are a number of seductive hampers ranging from under £40 to just over £100 all wrapped in a Rococo Print Box with an array of special treats, including their international ward-winning artisan bars, a selection of ganaches that are lovingly created from Valrhona single origin chocolates and some super smooth Italian nougat.

Hotel Chocolat has expanded from its original UK horizon and become more of an international brand. The company has always aimed at premium quality but not at the expense of the mainstream market. This year, the company beat their main rival Thorntons on profits for the first time in their history as the public become more discerning over their chocolates. The company has a mantra of “Maximum pleasure, minimum sugar” based on many experiments to find the right level of creaminess and sweetness without overdosing on sugar.

Among some of their prime Christmas collections are the Xmas Wreath Box with 43 truffles, a delicious wreath cookie and two large chocolate snowflakes. There is also the Christmas Collection aimed at the whole family, including a salted caramel, a chocolate Santa and traditional drinking chocolate. The original Sleekster box (Christmas edition) is perhaps the pick of the bunch in terms of price and choice with a selection of 28 festive chocolates, including the Christmas Mess, Mulled Wine, Mince Pie Brownie and Brandy Butter. The packaging adds to the sense of anticipation.

Divine Chocolate is made with top quality cocoa, natural cocoa butter and vanilla. The company merged its UK and USA operations earlier this year as the same trend for dark, block premium chocolate is happening in the States as it is in Britain. It is the only chocolate company which is 44 per cent owned by its farmers. For the 2015 festive season, Divine has two new limited edition 100g bars: the Dark Chocolate with Toffee & Sea Salt and the new Milk Chocolate with Caramel & Espresso Nibs. Divine’s Luxury Belgian Selection is this year available in two sizes containing milk and dark chocolates with soft or praline centres. The signature gourmet bars are their speciality and with mango, strawberry and raspberry flavours interspersed within dark, milk and white chocolate, the combinations are fruit driven.

As consumers have educated their taste buds, the realisation has become more apparent that eating chocolate with less sugar does not make it any less tasty. Luxury brands like Rococo, Hotel Chocolat and Divine can now compete with the more mainstream bars in supermarkets and outlets because of this.