Boxes of chocolates as presents

Posted by PMB001 at 12/19/07

As it's coming up to Xmas, we have been given some boxes of chocolates. We're expecting more.
We always check the ingredients to make sure they are OK for veggies.
We got Terry's All Gold, Nestle Dairy Box and a small pack of Rose & Violet Creams, Chocolart by Cottage Delight.
I contacted each company to check that they are suitable for veggies. NONE of them are!
I am particularly unhappy as we had previously contacted Nestle a couple of years ago and were told that Dairy Box WAS OK for veggies. They have since changed production methods to make it not suitable.
My wife is very unhappy as she used to like Dairy Box and we have told family & friends that this is one we can eat. We're expecting to receive more boxes of the stuff over Xmas.
I'm just really annoyed with these companies and would like to highlight what's going on to anyone that doesn't know.
Does anyone remember the trouble Mars got into a year or two back when they said they were changing their production to make their products non-veggie? We had stopped eating their products before this was on the news anyway because eating their stuff has always been like a case of veggie Russian roulette. As far as we know it still is, although we haven't investigated further.
I'd also like to know if anybody can help with what chocolates we CAN eat. We live in the UK.
Any help / suggestions / comments would be appreciated.

Responses (7)

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Posted by PMB001 at 12/19/07 07:24:31

Additional note from author.
I have just contacted Terry's again re: their Chocolate Orange products.
It seems that most of them are not suitable for vegetarians either.
We had eaten one of the different flavours of Chocolate Orange (it was the fudge or toffee one) last night and I was feeling quite ill this morning. Initially, I had thought this was just because I had eaten too much chocolate (although I didn't have that much). After talking to their "helpline", I now know it's because it's not veggie.
I'm going to have to stop talking to these companies' "helplines" because they they are just making me really angry!
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Posted by JohnnySensible at 12/19/07 08:17:44

I work in Cote D'Ivoire sometimes - where slaves are still bought by cocoa plantations.
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Completely forget the "big boys" when you buy chocolate.
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Here are my recommendation for "Blighty" -
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1) Make your own!
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2) www.divinechocolate.com - "FairTrade" - part owned by farmers in Ghana.
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3)http://www.therawchocolatecompany.com/ - superb "raw" choccies.
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4) If you have friends in the US get them to mail some - https://www.theochocolate.com/products/order.php - to you - "Theo Origin Bars" are made vegan and soy-free.
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John
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Posted by PMB001 at 12/19/07 09:56:29

Hi John,
Many thanks for the suggestions.
While I had a little chuckle on reading suggestion 1), it does intrigue me. Any recipes?
Re: suggestion 2). I've eaten chocolate from divine chocolate before and it's delicious. I often buy it when I see it (unfortunately, not everywhere we shop stocks it).
If we start struggling for chocolate, we'll have a look at suggestions 3) & 4).
I'm just still angry with these companies. We will be avoiding them in the future.
Thanks again. This was my first foray into the Happy Cow forum, and it's good to get helpful suggestions like this.
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Posted by vegiedeb at 12/19/07 17:12:54

Plamil are a vegan chocolate company that support fair trade, and they also have organic chocolate. Booja Booja truffles are divine, vegan, and organic. Both of these companies are in the UK, so contact them for stockists then maybe suggest your family/friends purchase chocs from them for you.
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Posted by JohnnySensible at 12/23/07 00:16:56

Yes indeedy - thank you for the reminder - Plamil are a superb company - they are strong supporters of the "UK Vegan Society" - they have always gone way beyond FairTrade - "Plamil, a vegan company, doesn't use the Fair Trade mark on the grounds that it only protects humans from exploitation and not animals, but it says that its cocoa is all sourced from the Dominican Republic and fulfils the social standards set out by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation. "

PLamil's production line is purely vegan - so there is "0" chance of any milk / egg residue entering their products.
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Posted by Healthy at 12/24/07 12:08:51

Awesome Foods makes the BEST raw vegan coconut chocolate! (They can be found online)

I'm so into it, I've been buying a bar a week since last summer!
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Posted by DC Vegan at 02/04/08 16:17:13

Rose City Chocolatiers has a vegan line of chocolates, for those of you in the U.S. Pangea and Vegan Essentials also sell vegan boxed chocolates.

I don't bother with conventional chocolate anymore--it's not nearly as good!

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