The world’s most expensive chocolate.

So who doesn’t like chocolate?

Most people have will admit to being chocolate lovers, even if they are more savoury than sweet.

However would they pay US$260 for a single 50 g bar (more than $5 per gram)?

For nearly all of us the answer would be –“what!!!!!!”

The most expensive chocolate in the world is a limited edition of only 574 bars, and there are still 89 available for purchase.

So beside being a limited number, what makes this chocolate so special that people will pay that amount for it?

Chocolate is made from cocoa which is produced from Cacao beans. Recently the creators of To’ak Chocolate found a small pure grove of the rare heirloom species of Cacao trees, Nacional. The world’s most expensive chocolate has been made from beans from these trees.

In the 1800s this variety of cacao was considered by many chocolatiers to have the most prized and complex flavour profile. The outbreak of Witch’s Broom disease nearly drove the variety to extinction in 1917 and it disappeared for nearly 100 years.

Nacional cacao is native is Ecuador and the two To’ak cofounders found it there again, and have produced the world’s most expensive chocolate as a result.

The whole area is now being very carefully protected and much work is occurring to protect the variety and the genetic line, so it does not get lost again or go extinct.

For a product this expensive, there is special packaging, including tasting utensils to use to eat the chocolate so that hands do not contaminate it. The Spanish Elm wooden box includes the engraved bar number on the back and a 116 page booklet explaining the ritual to taste dark chocolate. In the centre of each bar is a single Nacional bean to remind the eater of the history and importance of what they eating.

To find out more – https://toakchocolate.com/

Rachelle Williams, The Green Food Safety Coach.