Description

TASTING NOTES

This 44% milk chocolate bar contains no added refined “normal” sugar. It is instead sweetened by the starch-derived sugar substitute maltitol, which is about 90% as sweet as cane sugar. The result is a pleasingly rich milk bar not overpowered by the sweetness of the milk and sugar.

ABOUT THE MAKER

In 1935, Fernande Gobert named her chocolate company after the beloved Queen Astrid, Swedish princes and wife of King Leopold of Belgium, who died in a tragic car accident that same year. The company is now owned by Christophe Bertrand, who has established farmer cooperatives in Haiti and Cameroon. His mission is to develop further the company’s high-quality, fine-flavour, and ethical chocolate while supporting cocoa bean producers and increasing their local revenue.

THE BEANS

In 2017, Christophe built on his Haitian success by establishing a cooperative in N’Kog Ekogo, a 75-family village in Cameroon. The farmers’ growth has been immense: from 2 tons of beans in 2018 to 40 tons in 2020. Reine Astrid has also helped to organise the rebuilding of the village school and the building of a warehouse, and funded masks and PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic.