Commercial Chocolate VS Homemade Chocolate

”We measure life not in years, but in the sweetness of everyday happenings; of sweet memories, sweet people, sweet dreams and sweet chocolate.’

— VIOLET CHOCOLATES FACTORY”

In the Middle East, there are 2 types of chocolate factories: the ones that produce commercial chocolates, and the others that produce the homemade chocolate. You must be asking about the differences, well here they are:

Chocolate is said to have amazing and unique taste sensation and aromas. It is produced by natural and fresh ingredients and a lot of expertise to deliver its delightful flavor.

1- Natural vs. artificial ingredients

Just like any other product in the food and beverages industry, to lower the cost of production, some factories replace the natural ingredients by artificial ones and add preservatives that will give a fake good quality. This is the case of commercial chocolate. As for the homemade, the factory makes sure to deliver the best quality possible by maintaining the natural and high quality ingredients to offer the unique taste sensation.

2- Chocolate filling ingredients

To offer this unique taste sensation, homemade chocolate is filled with natural flavors, like pistachio, hazelnuts, almonds and others; whereas, commercial chocolate is filled with artificial flavors using syrup or chemically made fillings.

3- Cocoa beans vs. cocoa butter

To go back to the 1^st step of the production, chocolate is produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cocoa tree. Therefore, cocoa beans (or cacao beans), grow in the tropical climates of Africa, South America and parts of Asia and are harvested twice a year to produce the raw products that makes chocolate. But, to elevate the melting point, some cocoa butter substitute is used in commercial chocolate; which will result in losing its natural attribute and quality.

4- Production Cost

To increase their profits, some chocolate factories keep using their old, antique machines and technology; which will result on lowering the quality of chocolate they make. Homemade chocolate factories keep updating and upgrading their machinery and technologies to the latest ones to obtain the ISO Certification which proves the high-level of hygiene in the factory and the expected good quality of the products.

5- All the above

To reach the best quality, factories must produce their own chocolate paste, If it respects all the points mentioned above, it will be the best way to make sure that they are offering the best chocolate quality. We are mentioning this point because some factories get the paste from an external provider without knowing what exactly has been used, and might end up delivering the unexpected quality to their customers.

Now that you have the visibility on the different processes used in chocolate production, it’s up to you to make the choice to enjoy the best quality and the unique taste sensation with homemade chocolate.