When you go vegan, you’re inevitably going to have to give up foods that may have once been a regular part of your diet. Luckily for you, dark chocolate doesn’t fall under that category. Want to skip ahead? Order our favorite dark chocolate here.
If you search long enough, you’ll find that there’s a huge variety of dark chocolates and vegan dark chocolate brands that offer amazing chocolate that's still vegan-friendly. Dark chocolate that uses any milk products such as whey, casein, milk fat, and milk solids, or non-soy lecithin are not considered vegan products and should be avoided. Generally, if you’re in market for vegan-friendly dark chocolate, you should look for a short ingredient list combined with high concentrations of cacao.
From the same group that brought you vegan-friendly hot cocoa and vegan-friendly chocolate chips, we now present a list of 8 vegan dark chocolate brands you have to try.
These companies don't just give you dark chocolate for vegans. They give you the type of vegan dark chocolate that quickly ends up on a person's favorites lists.
Vegan Dark Chocolate Brands
1. Sweetriot
Sweetriot is a company that makes a large selection of vegan chocolates with varying percentages of cacao. Which chocolates should you start with? The 70% Dark Chocolate Pure Mini Bites have been known to get rave reviews. Typically Sweetriot’s dark chocolates range from 50% cacao to 85% and some have coconut added for more flavor. Regardless, however, these healthy, natural, and delicious chocolate bars will leave you wanting more. The product is USDA Certified Organic and is perfect for vegans of all ages. Be sure to check out the company’s full selection of vegan dark chocolate.
2. Green and Black
Green and Black is another company that specializes in vegan friendly dark chocolate bars. They have organic dark chocolate bars with 70% cacao and 85% as well. Other flavors they add include ginger and mint. They are certified organic and include Madagascan organic vanilla in the mix to help reduce the bitterness of the dark chocolate and make it sweeter.
3. Chocolove
Chocolove is another great company that produces some vegan dark chocolate products. The Chocolove orange peel in dark chocolate tastes great while blending an assortment of interesting flavors. The mixes they carry include:
- dark chocolate chips
- pure dark chocolate
- rich dark chocolate
- strong dark chocolate
- extra strong dark chocolate
- ginger in rich dark chocolate
- chillies and cherries in dark chocolate
- coffee crunch in dark chocolate
- peppermint in dark chocolate
- cherries and almonds in dark chocolate
- almonds and sea salt in dark chocolate
- raspberries in dark chocolate
- fair trade organic dark chocolate
- fair trade cherries in dark chocolate
- fair trade currants
- almonds in dark chocolate
Talk about a selection to choose from! In addition, every Chocolove orange peel in dark chocolate bar includes a love poem inside the wrapper making it perfect for gift-giving.
4. Chocolate Inspirations, Inc.
Chocolate Inspirations, Inc. is an amazing choice for vegan dark chocolate bars. These artisan vegan espresso bars are blended with imported dark chocolate, Hawaiian smoked alderwood salt, and espresso beans.
The company carries artisan vegan hummingbird nectar tea bars, artisan vegan organic spiced chai tea bars, artisan vegan Italian orange chocolate bars, ginger orange green tea bars, vegan artisan peppermint bars, vegan Christmas tea bars, vegan bourbon black tea bars, vegan heartwarming cinnamon chocolate tea bars, and vegan raspberry rose chocolate tea bars. In addition, Sweet Buddies have salted caramel with either peanuts or marshmallows in a chocolate bar.
Try a couple different flavors and see which one you like the most.
5. Newman's Own
Newman's Own has produced a super dark chocolate bar that should have the attention of all lovers of dark chocolate. They are 100% organic and certified by The Rainforest Alliance and USDA. The Rainforest Alliance certification means that the cacao was grown on farms able to meet high standards for farming and that the soil, waterways, and wildlife in the area is protected. Newman's Own also carries espresso dark chocolate, super dark chocolate, orange dark chocolate, and super dark chocolate cups with raspberry centers.
6. Endangered Species
Endangered Species has the largest selection of flavors out of all the brands on this list. On top of the high quality dark chocolate squares, 10% of the company’s net profits are donated to wildlife conservation efforts. Through their sales they have and continue to support the African Wildlife Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, The Xerces Society, and The Ocean Conservancy.
The long list of vegan products includes: dark chocolate bars, dark chocolate bars with 88% cacao, dark chocolate with blueberries, blackberry sage, cacao nibs, cherries, cranberries and almonds, cranberry, orange and cinnamon, cinnamon, cayenne, and cherries, espresso, forest mint, lemon poppy seed, peppermint crunch, pumpkin spice and almonds, raspberries, and sea salt and almonds. They carry dark chocolate bars filled with almond butter crème, coconut crème, lavender mint crème, raspberry orange crème, and sea salt and lime crème.
Even if one flavor isn’t your favorite, it’s impossible to look through this list and find nothing.
7. No Whey!
Sporting a creative name that’s not easily forgotten, No Whey! Foods products are free of milk, peanuts, tree nuts, gluten, eggs, soy, and artificial colors and flavors. The No Whey! Milkless chocolate bars, which are both vegan and kosher, are vaunted for the fact that they look and taste like milk chocolate while being dairy free.
There are also other treats the brand carries like better p'nut crisp bars, caramel pecan clusters, caramel p'nut logs, cat’s meow barsk, exotic sea salt caramels, peanut butter delights, heathy heart bars, pretzel bars, pretzel swirls, and raspberry truffles.
Put another way, this brand is a dessert connoisseur’s delight.
List of Non-Vegan Chocolate Companies
Here is a list of companies to avoid that are not creating vegan products:
- Delicaseys Chocolates
- Hershey's
- Stuffed Cakes
- ABC Bakers
- ALDI
- Alpro
- Amy E's Bakery
- Ananda Foods
- Barry Callebaut
- Bensdorp
- Bissinger's Handcrafted Chocolatier
- Boulder Cookie
- Chocoveda
- Deliss Chocolate
- Dr. Oetker USA
- Go Max Go
- Guittard Chocolate Company
- The Inspired Cookie
- Kashi
- LEDA Chocolate
- Little Brownie Bakers
- Mariposa Baking Company
- Morning Sunshine Breakfast Cookies
- NuNaturals, Inc.
- Pacific Natural Foods
- Ripple
- Silver Spoon
- Svelte
- Sunwarrior
- Thorntons
- TradeAid
- Villars
- Whittaker's
- Xan Confections
As always, this list is far from complete and so you should always check the ingredients on the package before you purchase and eat anything. Just in case you need another resource, however, here's is a more comprehensive list of companies that are and are not vegan friendly.
Vegan dark chocolate brands come in many flavors and options. If one vegan-friendly dark chocolate brand doesn’t work for you, there’s a bucket load of other equally vegan-friend squares to look towards. Pick a few out and order yourself some boxes of chocolate to indulge your sweet tooth.
If your sweet tooth is still going after reading all of this, then you’ll love trying out these vegan cookie brands!
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