Sweet Candied Orange

The bold writing on this chocolate bar states that, 'Eating this chocolate saves trees' in fact the makers of this bar go so far as to say eating chocolate will save the world! Well, after reading this statement I had no option but to buy this bar of chocolate. By saving a tree you also save the biodiversity held within and around it. I'm getting feel good factor already!


Organic Meltdown is the brain child of Brand Stand a group of like minded individuals looking to improve everything about what we eat. At the same time solving environmental and social issues that arise from the world's industrial food giants. I suppose they can be described as the Fantastic Four of the food industry? I'd love to see their Things To Do List! Not only do they have their fingers in chocolate but also in olives with their brand, OLOVES, which won a number of high profile food awards. Originating in Barcelona they introduced a range of 100% natural deli-style olives with no preservatives, supplying high profile airlines such as Virgin Atlantic, United and Continental.

Ok, back to saving the planet, planting trees and doing heroic stuff.....The idea of buying a piece of chocolate that actually saves a tree in Ecuador is a great idea and it seems to have caught the imagination of some 115,802 people around the world. They are some way off their target of saving 5 million trees in Ecuador by 2012, especially when Organic Meltdown was launched in 2008. To count the trees in the forest they use satellites, thank god for progress! They work in partnership with the World Land Trust, who've been working since 1989 to preserve the worlds most biologically important and threatened lands in Asia, Central and South America. You have to register before you can save your tree. Why? It's not totally clear how your tree is being saved but it looks like Brand Stand own a portion of the Ecuadorian rainforest and they employ a company to protect it from illegal loggers. How much money goes to helping this project is not clear.


The Chocolate: This bar is both Organic and Fairtrade which ticks the ethical boxes. My bar has sustained a little bit of damage and it looks slightly dull but it has a good snap. The aroma is milky but the cocoa content is 58% which makes it a dark chocolate. My little chunk quickly melts releasing cardamom and cinnamon flavours. The orange peel is crunchy and works well with the dark chocolate, it is one of the best I've tasted. 


Their site has information on chocolate but there is little information on the chocolate I'm tasting. All I can say is that it is made by a Swiss manufacturer. I assume the cocoa is from Ecuador? If this product is so important to you why not write something interesting about it. Don't just quote information from 70%! 

This bar of chocolate is a long, long way off being the best dark chocolate in the world. However, I enjoyed this bar and I'm happy to award a score of 6/10 for the ethical feel good factor. I purchased this bar from Waitrose for £1.99 (90g) which is good value. 


They have four bars available in their range including, Sweet Candied Orange; Hazelnuts and Currants; Organic Milk and Organic Dark Chocolate. 


There is a lot more information available on the following sites:


Organic Meltdown
World Land Trust
Brand Stand Ltd