Vegan Chocolate – My Top 5 Favourite

Since I went vegan in 2019, there have been many new vegan chocolate bars added to the market. Some are especially vegan only brands, but also, other well-known chocolate brands have jumped on the bandwagon and are now making a vegan alternative to their usual milk products.

Personally, I seem to prefer the brands that are exclusively vegan. It’s as if they’ve really perfected their products, using better quality ingredients, which can be reflected in the price – but believe me, they are well worth it! All of the chosen bars are incidentally gluten and palm-oil-free. All comments are of my personal or my family’s personal opinion and should not stop you from trying other brands.

Anyway, enough of the waffle, let’s list the chocolate.

At number five…

Nomo (No More Missing Out)

This tasty, gluten free and vegan chocolate comes in a few flavours: creamy chocolate, cookie dough, caramel, chocolate orange crunch and more. If you visit the NOMO website you can buy these products in variety packs. Many mainstream supermarkets, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury, etc. also stock Nomo products including large chocolate buttons and lollies.

In my opinion, being a lover of thick, creamy, chunky chocolate, this wouldn’t be the creamiest I’ve ever tasted, and the bars are a little on the thinner side, but yummy all the same. It’s also quite versatile for baking.

As well as being vegan, the chocolate is nut free, perfect for anyone with a nut allergy, hence the name:

No More Missing Out. Although, it does contain soy, which is a shame for soy allergy sufferers/dodgers.

The factory producing this yummy chocolate is based in Norfolk, UK. So, for UK customers, it’s obviously better for the environment due to transportation.

Nomo have won a few awards, with specialising in the ‘free from’ category, and they have also won a Peta vegan food award. Not too pricey either, for the size of the bars.

At number four…

Pico Chocolate

In all fairness, any of the Pico-branded chocolate is nice, but I’ve chosen the hazelnut milk for my own taste. Obviously, if you suffer from a nut allergy, avoid this flavour. There are many other flavours to choose from, salted caramel, coconut milk, orange crisp and original milk. For the full list of products check out the Pico website.

Based in Switzerland, this is an entirely vegan chocolate brand. Pico is also certified by Fairtrade and certified organic too.

Boasting as using natural ingredients, made by Swiss chocolatiers, you know this chocolate is going to be delicious, whatever the flavour. Although the bar is a little on the thin side again and a bit pricey, it doesn’t spoil the taste or the creaminess of this delectable chocolate treat. I’ve only ever seen this product in Sainsbury but it may be available in other UK supermarkets.

Number three…

Chocolate For Change (Co-op’s Single Origin range)

You may find it hard to believe that a supermarket own brand makes it in my top five, let alone at number three, but this COOP brand bar is a little gem of a vegan chocolate.

I originally had COOP’s Gro bar as my number three go-to chocolate bar, but since the time of publishing this post they seem to have discontinued it. But, they appear to have replaced it with this range of vegan chocolate called ‘Chocolate For Change.’

This Gianduja chocolate is made with hazelnut and Peruvian cocoa. It comes in three other varieties too: orange, raspberry and dark chocolate. It’s every bit as good as its predecessor, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture. And it’s not too expensive at around £1.80 for a 100g bar. The bar once again is thin, and my son likened it to a Nestlé Animal bar, which is a fair description.

This bar is certified as Fairtrade, and the Coop itself has a few climate/environmental pledges, with responsible food and ingredients sourcing and ethical trading in place.

Number Two…

Tony’s Chocolony

Even though I had seen this many times in supermarkets I never thought to try it. I think what put me off was that their chocolate is mostly non-vegan, milk chocolate of different flavours, with a couple of token vegan offerings. That was until my son brought me two bars back from his holiday in Amsterdam, the home of the Tony’s factory. He gave me them on the Friday morning and, with the help of my husband, we had scoffed the lot by Sunday morning – Oops again!

The two vegan flavours in question were dark creamy hazelnut and extra dark chocolate 70%, both of which seem to be only available online to UK customers (or brought back very kindly from Amsterdam.) I had seen vegan dark almond sea salt in our local Sainsbury, so I had to try it. I was not disappointed. The crunchy almond and dark chocolate is the perfect fusion. Sold in 180g bars, this chocolate is every bit how chocolate should taste. The bar is thick and the chocolate is creamy. When you open a bar, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s a weird design, but the unequal chunks are there to depict the inequality in the chocolate industry. It’s Tony’s mission to wipe out modern slavery in the chocolate trade, a story you can read about here.

Tony’s is certified Fairtrade and B Corps. The chocolate is wrapped in uncoated, 100% recycled paper. In fact, these guys couldn’t be more environmentally friendly with their practices, all of which you can read about on the Tony’s Chocolony website. It’s well worth the read. They do sell gift boxes and personalised bars too.

And finally, at Number One…

Vego (Whole Hazelnut Bar)

I’ve chosen this particular bar from the range because it’s my favourite, but in all honesty anything from the Vego range is just divine.

Born out of a fast-food company that started in Berlin, east Germany, this company also produces a dark chocolate with nuts and berries, a white almond bar, hazelnut pralines, and also a hazelnut spread (which incidentally comes in a reusable drinking glass). It’s not difficult to find something to fit your taste buds. I’ve only ever seen this for sale in Holland and Barrett, Asda, and Co-op, but otherwise online. Check out the Vego shop here.

As well as being gluten free, the whole range is vegan. The brand is certified Fairtrade and as of 2020 the packaging is fully compostable.

And yes, I can eat a whole 150g bar in one sitting, to myself – not good for the waistline I hear you scream. I can’t help it,  the thick creamy nutty chocolate just tastes so heavenly!