Chocolate lovers (or anyone for that matter) can rejoice on World Chocolate Day (7 July). If you are looking for fine artisanal chocolates for yourself or for gifting, check out these local brands. Most of them place emphasis on bean-to-bar chocolate using sustainably sourced ingredients – so you know that you are not just eating well but helping to save the planet too.
Embrace Chocolate
Embrace Chocolate is a small batch bean-to-bar chocolate shop in Joo Chiat by Namita Gupta who’s one of the newest craft chocolate makers in town. The brand was launched in December 2021. Coming from a background in consumer marketing, she says: “After over 18 years in the industry I felt there might be another calling for me. I wanted to do something that would make a positive impact in whatever little way.”
That’s when she discovered the world of single origin and bean-to-bar chocolate. She was taken by the range and complexity of flavours one could experience with just a plain bar of chocolate versus mass produced versions where the beans’ natural flavour is often masked by over processing, and fused with additives and preservatives.
All the chocolate is made on-site, using traceable and sustainably grown single origin cacao beans. The dark chocolate bars at Embrace are all vegan-friendly and gluten- free. Embrace also rolls out freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, a hazelnut chocolate spread and chocolate bark with nuts and orange peel. “We also have chocolate gelato that is made by Heluna Gelato, which is in the neighbourhood,” says Namita.
Embrace will be introducing two new bars at the end of July. The first will be a Mocha Bar in collaboration with Kohi, a hole-in-the-wall coffee joint in Joo Chiat. “The other will be an even higher percentage bar (more than 80%) — for the customers who ask us for darker chocolate. In the coming months we hope to introduce bars infused with whisky or bourbon,” adds Namita.
Mr. Bucket Chocolaterie
Launched in 2020, Mr. Bucket is a Singapore-based chocolaterie focusing on bean-to-bar chocolate that is sustainably-sourced from Asia.
Mr. Bucket specialises in artisanal chocolate bonbons, which includes a range of single origin treats for dark chocolate fans. You will find colourful ones with unexpected flavour pairings. Think: Calamansi Surprise, Mala Mild Spicy, Rosemary Honey, Coffee Caramel Whisky, Tea & Biscuits, Cookies & Cream, Peanut Butter & Jelly.
The team continuously works with local brands to create exciting new flavours, and push boundaries with their pairings. For instance, the Double Soy Sauce Caramel is made with light and dark soya sauce from renowned local brand Kwong Woh Hing.
Besides luxurious bonbons and chocolate bars, products like drinking chocolate and chocolate liqueur are also available at their open-concept retail space and online store.
(Related: Local business Mr Bucket Chocolaterie makes the case for Asian cacao)
Fossa Chocolate
Fossa Chocolate is the first homegrown bean-to-bar chocolate company. The award-winning brand is known for its fine made-from-scratch chocolate, featuring unique flavours and packaging (hand- wrapped in elegant letter pressed packaging that’s environmentally-friendly). What started out as a home experiment has today become a thriving full-fledged artisan chocolate business.
The team behind the brand selects high quality and sustainably sourced natural cacao – exclusively from estates in countries like Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Uganda, Tanzania, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. These farms engage in agroforestry as opposed to single crop plantations (monocultures), which means that cacao trees are cultivated alongside other native trees and food crops, allowing wildlife to live happily in their natural habitat. These farmers also cultivate the cacao for flavour instead of focusing only on yield.
In Singapore, Fossa’s team hand-sorts, roasts, and winnows the cacao beans in small batches. The cacao nibs are then ground with sugar to a smooth texture, before being carefully tempered and moulded into tablets and finally hand-packaged. Fossa ensures that their chocolate products are made without additives or substitutes. And the dark chocolates are produced in its purest form with only cacao and sugar. Look out for new and innovative flavours every other month.
Every other month the brand launches new, innovative, and often one-of-a-kind flavours.
Lemuel
Another craft chocolate-maker is Lemuel Chocolate which started in 2017. In the early days, co-founders Ronald Ng and Hideki Sakanishi visited several bean-to-bar establishments in Japan to garner inspiration. Having worked in the import-export industry for chocolate, both saw a market for craft chocolate in Singapore.
Today, Lemuel Chocolate sources and imports quality cacao beans from cacao farmers and reputable cacao agents around the world. They manually sort, roast, crack, winnow and grind them into individual chocolate. Then, they temper and mould them into chocolate bars.
The brand, which has a retail shop in The Star Vista, specialises in pure single-origin chocolate from places like Peru, Guatemala, Belize, Papua New Guinea, Mexico, Honduras and more. At the moment, they have over 18 single origins that change on a rotating basis. Besides the single-origin bars, they also offer a wide range of specialty chocolate pastries, bonbons and drinks.
“Currently, we have launched a single-origin chocolate flight platter that comes with our signature Cacao Tea. The platter showcases three of our origins and the depth of their tasting notes. The tea made from cacao husks is provided as a palate cleanser. It is also part of our steps towards reducing waste in the chocolate manufacturing process,” says a spokesperson.
ANJALICHOCOLAT
ANJALICHOCOLAT was founded in 2014 by Anjali Gupta a professional banker-turned chocolatier. The luxurious chocolates are made fresh everyday using ingredients like Belgian couverture, fresh cream, butter, whole spices and fruit puree.
These treats are designed and handcrafted at the workshop at Loewen Road by Dempsey Hill. Anjali enjoys creating and perfecting classic flavours like Salted Caramel Bonbons, Classic Dark Chocolate Truffles, Lavender Truffles, and Earl Grey Tea Truffles. But she has also introduced unusual flavour pairings including local ones. Anjali shares, “Being a Singapore-based chocolatier, we decided to experiment with a range of ingredients commonly found in Singapore. This led to the launch of our collection called FROM SINGAPORE Lah, which comprises 15 different flavours such as Teh Tarik, Kaya Toast, Chinese Five-Spice, Calamansi and others.”
For some snacking on the go, grab the 100g chocolate bars available in 10 different flavour combinations, such as Fig & Walnut, Creme Brulee, Almond Mocha, and Hazelnut Latte. For gifting, there are plenty of boxes to consider, including the box of 15 Assorted Chocolate Tasting Squares. The cocoa bean pattern on the boxes was hand-painted by Anjali’s daughter who has a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art.
The retail store is located in Tanglin Mall, Level 2 (Due to renovations, it has temporarily relocated to B1 Atrium, till the 14 July). From 15 July, there will be a few new products including Hazelnut Dragees, Chocolate Mooncakes, and a range of new chocolate bars.
(Related: How independent Swiss chocolatier Blaise Poyet outsmarted food giant Nestle)
