Plamil already makes several chocolate products with renewable energy in nut-free facilities, including vegan chocolate spreads and no-sugar-added bars. The British company claims to be the first organic and vegan chocolate maker in the UK, having ignited the vegan revolution with its soymilk in the 1960s.
Sold under the company’s ‘So free’ line, the Cocoabites are available in 85g jars in three flavors (RRP £2.50): White, Milky Smooth, and Dark.
The white bites combine 49% cocoa butter with 39% rice powder, plus raw cane sugar and natural flavoring.
Milky Smooth resembles a milk chocolate, but being vegan, they are 100% dairy-free. These bites blend 47% cocoa and 16% rice with raw cane sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass and natural flavoring.
The Dark uses a 67% organic dark chocolate sweetened with coconut sugar blossom (33% by mass), plus cocoa butter. This one contains no additional sugar or flavoring.
Why a jar?
Plamil told ConfectioneryNews that the packaging for this bite-sized product was ‘just as important as the taste.’
The company considered several options but ultimately landed on clear glass jars with white lids. Customers can also buy a 1kg refill bag to replenish their jars.
“Whilst there are a number of brands marketing products packed with various alternatives to plastic packaging our research indicated that either the manufacturing process was not seen as environmental and/or the shelf life of the packaging material itself does not meet chocolate requirements,” a company spokesperson told us.
The viability of biodegradable packaging remains fuzzy, added Plamil. Glass jars emerged as the most recyclable and refillable option.
Retailers can purchase the 1kg refill bags to fill jars on site, too.
Added managing director Adrian Ling, “We wanted customers to be able to reseal the packet, enabling a 'buying better, buying less, consuming less, enjoying more’ approach to chocolate.”
