10 Best Vegan Chocolate In 2024. Delicious Ultimate Buyer's Guide

The Ultimate Guide to the Best Vegan Chocolate Including Best Brands and Chocolate Products

Who doesn’t like chocolate?! Not many, that’s for sure. When you go vegan, you lose many of your favorite chocolate snacks. It seems every product has some form of milk in the ingredients.

You can choose to eat dark chocolate only, as most of it is 100% vegan already. But what if you don’t like dark chocolate? Also, there are many types of chocolatey snacks where dark chocolate just can’t do the job.

What are the best vegan chocolate brands? HU, Chocolove, K’UL Chocolate, Alter Eco, Endangered Species, Equal Exchange Chocolates, Theo, Chocolate Inspirations, Evolved Chocolate, and Goodio Chocolate. Each of these brands sells an impressive range of 100% vegan chocolate goodies.

In this guide, I explore the world of vegan chocolate, giving you the best vegan chocolate brands and products available right now. I hope it helps you to fill that chocolatey void you’ve been trying to fill.

The Top 10 Vegan Chocolate Brands and Products

Here it is, the very best vegan chocolate products you can buy and where to buy them from. Enjoy!

HU Chocolate

Hu Chocolate Bars

HU is an excellent range of vegan dark chocolate bars that are delicious. They’re completely vegan, non-GMO, and gluten-free. There are nine awesome flavors to choose from, which can be overwhelming.

In my opinion, the best is the Simple Chocolate, Hazelnut Butter, Salty Chocolate, and Crunchy Mint. You can also get Almond Butter, Orange Vanilla, Raspberry Jelly, Vanilla Bean, and Vanilla Crunch.

If you don’t like to compromise on quality with your chocolate and don’t mind spending a little bit more, HU chocolate should be top of your list.

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Chocolove

Chocolove, Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate

Chocolove bars are simply divine. They’re creamy, high-quality, and delicious. You can get some fantastic flavors, including my favorites Extreme Dark Chocolate, Almonds & Sea Salt, Coffee Crunch, and Salted Almond Butter.

You can also get Peppermint, Ginger, Extra Strong Dark Chocolate, Orange Peel, and much more. I’ve tried these out with groups of friends, and you will struggle to find a version people don’t love.

Chocolove bars are also Non-GMO certified, Rainforest Alliance Certified, and the brand is very committed to social responsibility, including minimizing environmental impact and workers’ rights.

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K'UL Chocolate

K'UL Dark Chocolate bars

All K’UL chocolate bars are delicious, 100% USDA-Certified organic, soy-free, and GMO-free. Every chocolate bar from K’UL is made with four ingredients or less, making them simple but tasty.

I like their straightforward attitude to quality and ethics. Ingredients are all sourced responsibly using specially selected partners in Peru and the Dominican Republic. This ensures workers are paid fairly, and there is minimal impact on the planet.

You can get three flavors, including Himalayan Sea Salt, Toasted Coconut, and Pure Dark Chocolate. I highly recommend K’UL to any chocolate connoisseurs after a real treat.

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Alter Eco

Alter Eco Dark Chocolate Bar

Alter Eco makes delicious variations of dark chocolate bars that will have you salivating before you even take the packaging off. You can get your hands on nine different varieties including:

  • Blackout (85% Cocoa)
  • Dark Coconut Toffee
  • Dark Quinoa Crunch
  • Dark Salt & Malt
  • Dark Salted Brown Butter
  • Dark Salted Burnt Caramel (My Fave!)
  • Dark Sea Salt
  • Super Blackout (90% Cocoa)
  • Super Dark Mint Crisp

All chocolate bars from Alter Eco are USDA-Certified Organic, and Fair-Trade Certified ensures workers and farmers get a fair deal. Even the packaging is FSC certified recyclable. Hence, having the word “Eco” in the name.

If you’re looking for super eco-friendly and sustainable chocolate that is also delicious, look no further than Alter Eco.

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Endangered Species

Endangered Species Chocolate

Endangered Species are an excellent chocolate brand that provides high-quality chocolate that is friendly to the environment, animals, and farmers.

You have a choice between twelve different flavors, all of which are sublime. I particularly like the Espresso Beans + Dark Chocolate, Natural Dark Chocolate, and Caramel Sea Salt + Dark Chocolate.

All chocolate from Endangered Species is certified Non-GMO and Fairtrade. Be careful when selecting your bar of chocolate, some may contain kosher dairy, which is not vegan.

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Equal Exchange Chocolates

Equal Exchange Chocolates

Equal Exchange offers an impressive range of chocolate bars that are all USDA-Certified Organic and Fair Trade. You have fifteen types of chocolate bars to choose from, including Almond, Mint Crunch, Orange, Coconut Milk, and Total Eclipse (92% Cocoa).

Equal Exchange chocolate is high-quality and delicious. They work closely with local small farmer co-ops to ensure their operations are fair and sustainable. Cocoa beans are farmed in both Peru and the Dominican Republic.

The raw cane sugar used in many of their products is sourced sustainably from cooperatives in Paraguay and Costa Rica. Vanilla comes from co-ops in Madagascar. The brand also sells a range of cocoa powders and coffee beans.

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Theo

Theo Organic Dark Chocolate Bar

Theo chocolate is all organic USDA-Certified Organic, Fair for Life Certified, and non-GMO certified. The chocolate is sustainably sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru and cane sugar from Brazil.

You have a few options to choose from, including Pure 85%, Salted Almond, Turmeric Spice, Salted Toffee, and more. You can also buy the same flavors in excellent buttercup versions.

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Chocolate Inspirations

Chocolate Inspirations by Vegan Essentials

This is where things get interesting. Chocolate Inspirations craft some excellent vegan chocolate products that include Chocolate Cashew Brittle, Caramel Marshmallow Bars, Peanut Bars, Cinnamon Toast Toffee, and Peanut Butter Pillows.

If you’re looking for something beyond the traditional chocolate bar, you can find something with Chocolate Inspirations. All their vegan products are decadent and made by hand. They’re also GMO-free and, of course, 100% vegan.

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Evolved Chocolate

Evolved Chocolate

Evolved makes real simple but tasty chocolate bars that use ethically sourced cacao and are USDA-Certified Organic. There are many exciting flavors to try, including Signature Dark, Cashew Milk, Midnight Coconut, Almond Sea Salt, Cashew Butter, Cashew Cookie Dough, and much more.

If you’re looking for some simple but delicious chocolate to enjoy while watching Netflix, then Evolved Chocolate is a great choice. Evolved also sells buttercups and keto cups. The keto cups have 10g of fat, 2g of carbs, and no added sugar.

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Goodio Chocolate

Goodio Chocolate

Goodio focuses on keeping all their chocolate as close to its natural state as possible with minimal processing. The brand is based in Finland and offers some incredible vegan chocolate options, including Chai, Coconut, Wild Blueberry, Coffee, Chili, Mint, and Ariba.

All their chocolates are carefully crafted by hand, and the ingredients are non-GMO and ethically sourced. If you’re looking for some vegan chocolate with a real twist, check out their Licorice and Sea Buckthorn flavor.

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The Top “Accidentally” Vegan Chocolate Products

Healthy vegan chocolate chia pudding in jars

You may have heard the term “accidentally vegan” used a lot. It’s a term used for any vegan product but has not been intentionally made as a vegan product. This means you can find individual products from big brands that are vegan.

Here the best “accidentally vegan” chocolate products you can buy right now:

  • Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Bars (Dark Chocolate, 72% Dark Chocolate, and Bittersweet With Almonds)
  • Trader Joe’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • Whole Foods’ 365 Everyday Value Dark Chocolate Baking Chunks
  • SunSpire’s Organic Semi-Sweet Baking Chips
  • Dream Dairy-Free Chocolate Dream Semi-Sweet Baking Chips
  • Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate ( 70%, 85%, 90%, and 99% cacao varieties)

You can discover your own “accidently” products by reading labels very carefully. Look out for all the non-vegan ingredients, such as milk derivatives. If you’re not sure, do some research online before buying.

Some vegans choose not to buy vegan products from non-vegan brands. They feel that their money is being used to fund animal exploitation and so avoid any non-vegan brands. This is totally your choice to make.

Is Chocolate Vegan?

Thankfully, there are now many brands like the ones above that create chocolate just for vegans. The main issue with chocolate is the dairy content that you find in most regular chocolate bars unless you only eat dark chocolate, which typically doesn’t include dairy ingredients.

The best quality chocolate with few ingredients has a high cacao content and will be naturally vegan. The ingredients are usually cocoa/cacao, cocoa butter, sugar, and occasionally soy lecithin, and vanilla.

Chocolate that is of poorer quality may have an extensive ingredient list that can include anything from milk to artificial flavorings and refined sugars. Additives are what makes most chocolate non-vegan; they include:

  • Milk
  • Milk solids
  • Milk fat
  • And various other types of milk

You will find “accidental vegan” chocolate all over the place. This is usually high-quality chocolate with a few natural ingredients. Make sure you read the ingredient list carefully.

Features of Perfect Vegan Chocolate

Delicious chocolate mousse in a glasses on a dark brown slate

Ingredients

When looking for top-quality vegan chocolate, there are a few ingredients that you should look out for. Remember, vegan chocolate does not include any dairy ingredients.

  • Cacao – the purest form of chocolate you can buy.
  • Cocoa – raw cacao that has been roasted at high temperatures.
  • Cocoa Butter – a fatty substance obtained from cocoa beans.
  • Soy Lecithin – a fatty substance derived from the soy plant.
  • Cane Sugar – natural sugar produced from sugarcane.

Your vegan chocolate may not contain all of these ingredients, it varies depending on the brand and product. But, these are high-quality vegan ingredients to look for when buying vegan chocolate.

Always look for organic ingredients where possible too. You will notice that all the chocolate listed above is organic. Look for USDA-Certified for the best quality.

Taste

The taste of vegan chocolate is of considerable debate. But it’s subjective and depends on the individual product. Cheap vegan chocolate often tastes pretty bad, but high-quality dark chocolate that is naturally vegan tastes incredible. But, this depends on whether you like the bitterness of dark chocolate.

Vegan milk chocolate made using plant milk varies in taste. Some taste great, but most taste a bit weird and not that good. You have to try various products out to find one you like. I recommend trying the Equal Exchange Coconut Milk bar. It’s fantastic.

Price

Vegan chocolate is often more expensive than non-vegan chocolate. This is simply because it uses the best chocolate ingredients, such as raw forms of cacao. If you like chocolate, it’s worth spending a bit more anyway.

Health Benefits

Yes, there are health benefits to eating quality chocolate. Cacao is extremely high in antioxidants, which have been shown to reduce your risk of certain diseases such as heart disease. This is due to the levels of flavonoids found in dark chocolate.

However, that doesn’t mean you should stuff your face full of vegan chocolate every night. A few small pieces a day are what’s recommended for health benefits.

Eco-Friendliness and Ethics

It’s worth buying chocolate that is sourced in an eco-friendly and ethical way. Cocoa bean farming is a resource-heavy process, and big chocolate brands ill-treat many farmers.

Look for chocolate brands that offer USDA-Organic ingredients, those that are certified by the Fair Trade Association, which protects farmers’ rights, and those that are Rainforest Alliance Certified.

This way, you can ensure your chocolate has been responsibly sourced, and both people and the environment are being protected.

Eco-Packaging

Packaging is also an important factor to consider. Packaging, in general, is destructive to the environment, especially plastics. There are many brands, including the ones listed above, that use special eco-packaging.

This typically includes recycling paper and cardboard. You can also look out for brands that use FSC-Certified recycled packaging. Your chocolate packaging shouldn’t impact the earth.

Where to Buy Vegan Chocolate

Chocolate bars on dark background with chocolate tower

Where you buy your vegan chocolate depends on where you live. You can find most vegan chocolate brands in most good supermarkets or health shops. If you live in smaller cities or outside the big cities, you can purchase vegan chocolate on websites like Amazon, iHerb, and Vegan Essentials.

The top supermarkets for vegan chocolate include:

  • Whole Foods Market
  • King Soopers
  • Ralphs
  • Giant Food
  • Shop Rite
  • Wegmans
  • Target
  • Fed Meyer
  • Publix
  • Kroger
  • Safeway
  • Trader Joe’s

FAQ

Is there vegan milk chocolate?
Is vegan chocolate better for you?
What do vegans eat instead of chocolate?
Does vegan chocolate cause allergy?
Are any candies vegan?

 

Andrew

Author:

Andrew

Solopreneur and writer. Passionate vegan for more than 5 years.

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