What Makes Sweet Ghost Chocolate Different?
At Sweet Ghost, we believe in using top of the line, ethically sourced chocolate. That’s why we source our chocolate from Valrhona, a premium chocolate producer who has been making chocolate for over 100 years.
Everyone says their chocolate is great, so what’s the big deal with Sweet Ghost, and why does our chocolate truly stand out?
Ethically Sourced
Increased scrutiny has highlighted the fact that much of the world’s supply of cocoa beans is produced via slave labor. For Sweet Ghost, finding a chocolate producer that is a leader in sourcing and making chocolate ethically was critical.
The problem starts with many chocolate producers not being able to trace exactly where their cocoa beans come from. When you don’t know where your product comes from, you can’t verify that things are being done correctly. Valrhona has had 100% traceability on their cocoa beans since 2018—this helps ensure that their cocoa is coming from producers that they trust. However, simply being able to trace cocoa beans isn’t enough to stop unethical practices. To allow their cocoa farmers and workers to have a reliable source of income and deter farms from using slave labor, Valrhona pays their farmers an average of 34% more for cocoa beans than the going market rate as part of their long-term partnership program. These long-term partnerships provide transparency into how their producers are operating.
Valrhona has a commendable environmental record as well, with a zero deforestation policy when sourcing cocoa beans. Since their beans are 100% traceable, they use this to ensure that beans are not coming from deforested areas, going so far as mapping the individual plots of their cocoa producers to ensure deforestation is not being supported.
With all of this, Valrhona has been twice certified as a B Corp, an intensive certification earned based on quantifiable actions taken towards economic, societal, and environmental sustainability.
At Sweet Ghost, we believe that ethically sourced chocolate makes eating it that much more enjoyable.
The main ingredient, is well, chocolate.
Next time you go to the grocery store, take a look at the ingredient list of your favorite chocolate. You might be surprised to see that the main ingredient isn’t chocolate or cocoa in many of those products, but instead is sugar. To drive down costs, some manufacturers add more sugar, milkfat, and soy that the actual chocolate takes a back seat.
When you pick up a chocolate confection from Sweet Ghost, the main ingredient is chocolate, and we believe that’s how it should be. The only exception to this is our white chocolate confections - this is because white chocolate contains no cocoa beans in it, just cocoa butter, so sugar is the main ingredient.
Cocoa beans are fermented twice for flavor.
When making chocolate, cocoa beans are fermented after harvesting, which allows for flavor precursors to develop. What is unique about Valrhona's process is that they ferment their cocoa beans twice—once in the traditional way that most chocolate companies do, and a second time with a proprietary process involving raw materials that includes fruit, to bring out a unique flavor profile and aroma in the chocolate. Taking the time to ferment twice takes longer and costs more, but getting a better tasting chocolate is worth it.
For more information on the chocolate manufacturing process, Valrhona has a brief video that explains this process.
We use couverture chocolate, not baking chocolate.
You might have seen baking chocolate at the grocery store before. While baking chocolate has its applications, at Sweet Ghost we always use couverture chocolate instead of baking chocolate when producing our chocolate confections. The main difference between the two is that couverture chocolate contains at least 31% cocoa butter in it, while baking chocolate typically contains only around 26%. While the numbers don’t seem far off from each other, the additional cocoa butter in couverture chocolate creates a smoother, richer texture than typical chocolate.
Sunflower, not Soy
If you look at many chocolates, they use lecithin as one of their ingredients. Lecithin in chocolate helps bind the cocoa and fat together.
There are two types of lecithin that are common in chocolate— soy and sunflower.
Many chocolate manufacturers commonly use soy lecithin since it’s cheaper to produce. However, it can be problematic since it requires harsh chemicals to extract and is a known allergen.
Sunflower lectin, which is what Valrhona uses, is more environmentally friendly because it takes less water to grow and doesn’t require harsh chemicals to extract.
Actions speak louder than words.
When it comes to quality and sustainability, it’s often not the easiest or cheapest way to do things. But at Sweet Ghost, we believe not only in living those values, but working with others that do as well, like Valrhona. It not only makes your chocolate from us taste better, but also helps make the world a better place.