A Taste of Vietnam: The Best Vietnamese Chocolate Brands to Try
Vietnamese chocolate may not be as well-known as chocolate from Switzerland or Belgium, but it's quickly gaining recognition for its unique flavors and high quality. Vietnam's location near the equator makes it an ideal location for growing cacao, and many Vietnamese chocolate brands have emerged in recent years that source their cacao directly from local farmers and even grow their own.
In this blog post, we'll be exploring some of the best Vietnamese chocolate brands to try, whether you're a chocolate lover looking to try something new or a traveler looking for a unique souvenir to bring back from Vietnam, these chocolate brands are definitely worth exploring. Let's dive in!
The Best Vietnamese Chocolate Brands
Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat
Vincent Mourou's successful advertising career in San Francisco didn't fulfill his desire for adventure, so he set out to find himself in Vietnam. During his journey, he met Samuel Maruta, a former banker living in Saigon with his family. While on a camping trip in the jungle in 2010, they both decided to take a bold step forward. With a quick Google search for "cacao plantation," they set out for a farm in Ba Ria Province, without even an address to guide them.
On the ferry ride back to Saigon, they made a promise to each other to start a company named Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat. With just a blender, an oven, and some cake tins, they began their work in Sam's kitchen. Today, Marou creates exquisite chocolate bars.
To ensure the highest quality, Marou only buy the best beans from a tight-knit network of small farmers, paying a premium price for each bag. Marou carefully roasts the cacao at low temperatures to bring out the unique flavors of each provincial origin.
Marou Faiseurs de Chocolat was one of the first "bean-to-bar" companies in Asia, and remains one of the few in the world to make chocolate at its origin. What began as a dream for two French adventurers has grown into a brand of pure dark chocolate made entirely from Vietnam's finest ingredients.
Shop Marou, Faiseurs de Chocolat
Belvie Chocolate
Belvie Chocolate was founded in late 2015 by a Vietnamese woman named Jannie Ha Tran and her Belgian partner Marc Vanborren. Starting out by making chocolate at home, they eventually decided to share their passion with the world and created Belvie Chocolate. The brand's chocolate is a combination of Belgian expertise, deep knowledge of chocolate, self-sourced beans from Vietnam, and a love for the country's farmers, nature, and chocolate.
Belvie Chocolate is produced in small batches to ensure quality and attention to detail. The beans are stone-ground and conched for several days to achieve the perfect texture and taste. The brand exclusively uses fine trinitario cacao beans purchased directly from planters in different regions of Vietnam, which not only enhances the local economy for farmers but also contributes to the preservation of cacao trees in the country. Belvie Chocolate offers a fair price for the beans sourced from farmers, encouraging and supporting them in the process.
Belvie Chocolate's mission is to make high-quality tree-to-bar, bean-to-bar chocolate using only cacao beans, cane sugar, and cacao butter from the same origin, without the use of soy or any other lecithin. The brand aims to make chocolate from every terroir in Vietnam, as they believe that each region's unique soil, terrain, and micro-climate influence the flavor and character of the final product. Belvie Chocolate is committed to sourcing beans from each cacao-producing region in Vietnam and showcasing the diversity and complexity of flavors that each region has to offer.
Alluvia Chocolate
Mr. Xuan Ron is responsible for cultivating the cacao on his plantation and transforming it into original creations, while his daughter Diep handles the promotion and export of the family's chocolate brand. Alluvia was born out of a deep desire to introduce the world to the handcrafted chocolate from the banks of the Mekong Delta, made by a family passionate about their craft.
Alluvia sources cocoa beans from local farmers in the Cho Gao region of Tien Giang, who grow and maintain the trees in accordance with international UTZ certification standards. The beans are hand-selected for their unique fruity fragrances, then dried, ground, and processed into chocolates using the traditional bean-to-bar approach. The rich alluvial soil of the Mekong Delta lends a distinctive fruity flavor to the cacao beans.
The Cocoa Project
With the motto of bringing chocolate to everyone, The Cocoa Project are here to offer you new and exciting experiences with cocoa. They understand that chocolate is not simply a gift, but a bridge that connects people. Chocolate becomes even sweeter and more intense when shared with loved ones!
Their mission is to establish a chocolate culture in Vietnam, which is what sets them apart. Rather than solely promoting Vietnamese chocolate globally, The Cocoa Project is dedicated to crafting chocolate products, flavors, and tastes that will appeal to local Vietnamese people.
D'art Chocolate
In 2011, starting with humble beginnings, they created exceptional chocolate for themselves, friends, and family. Their chocolate uses the best cacao from Vietnam and around the world. Moreover, D'art always brings customers natural, preservative-free, and substitute flavor products. D'art is proud to be one of Vietnam's leading pioneers in chocolate, a product that is highly regarded both domestically and beyond.
Stonehill Chocolate
Stone Hill is a Vietnamese family-owned business that aims to showcase the country's cacao to the global market. Their cacao trees are grown using sustainable and environmentally friendly farming practices on their own farm located in Dong Nai, Vietnam. They also work with a network of small farmers who share our commitment to quality and ethical compensation.
Their Tree-To-Bar chocolate is a unique product that they grow our and use to make our chocolate. This allows Stonehill to have complete control over the quality and flavor of their products. Tree-To-Bar is a highly exclusive category, as less than 0.01% of the world's chocolate falls under this category.
Legendary Chocolate
Legendary Chocolatier is a bean-to-bar chocolate company that directly sources its cacao beans from various provinces and farms in Vietnam. These beans are then combined with other high-quality ingredients to create exceptional chocolate.
Legendary's exquisite chocolate flavor is crafted by selecting the finest ingredients and undergoing rigorous testing to ensure that only unforgettable masterpieces reach consumers.
Visit our collection of single-origin Vietnamese chocolate to discover the finest cacao Vietnam has to offer.
To get started with craft chocolate, start with our Kekao Box. We search the world for the finest chocolate bars and bring them right to your doorstep monthly. From rich dark Peruvian chocolate bars to new start-up chocolate bars on the come-up, you never know what you'll get inside the box! Each month we will curate 4 to 5 premium specialty crafted chocolate bars.
If you want to just try a couple of bars, check out our online chocolate store.
If you have any questions regarding this blog, our Kekao Box, or premium specialty crafted chocolate bars, feel free to contact us! Keep up with us by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on Twitter, and Instagram.
