Help me find a good chocolate bar...

January 30, 2006 12:06 PM

Sugar Filter: I'm looking for chocolate bars to use as favors for my wedding and I need some suggestions!

I'm looking for chocolate bars that meet the following criteria:

1. They need to have an inner foil wrapper, and an outer paper wrapper (that I would replace with my own handmade paper wrapper).

2. They need to be less than $1.00 US per bar.

3. I need to be able to buy them within the USA easily.

4. They need to taste good.

5. White chocolate need not apply. I don't consider it chocolate.

I don't really want to go with Hershey's, and Godiva bars are too expensive. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

posted by catfood to Food & Drink (23 answers total)

Yes!


Morley's Candy.

This is basically my hometown chocolate. It's wonderful. Better than Hershey's, less expensive than Godiva.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much the candy bars are, especially if you don't want them to do the custom wrapping for you, but if you call them you can barter.
posted by dpx.mfx at 12:12 PM on January 30, 2006

Trader Joe's sells 3-packs of some really nice Belgian chocolate.
posted by Aknaton at 12:21 PM on January 30, 2006

Less than $1/bar is a tall order for good chocolate! the best I can do for you for good chocolate is the Chocovic Ocumare bar, which is amazing chocolate and sold at Trader Joe's for $1.79/bar (an amazing deal as it sells for as much as $4/bar elsewhere). But I don't think those bars have an inner wrapper-- I'm not sure. But the value can't be beat.

See's Candies used to make a great chocolate bar that was inexpensive, but I can't find it on their website, so they might not make it anymore.

The default might be Lindt chocolate bars, which run about $1.50/bar (maybe a bulk discount somewhere?) This site will let you buy 6 for $8. And they come in different levels of darkness, including milk if you prefer. A totally respectable chocolate!
posted by picklebird at 12:36 PM on January 30, 2006

Suggestion: Don't REPLACE the outside wrapper with your own homemade one unless you're going to put the actual nutrition facts/warnings/ingredients on yours. You can always put your label OVER the outside wrapper of the candy bar you choose. With allergy risks what they are these days, it's better to be safe than sorry, especially when it comes to chocolate, which often is made in peanut-processing factories.
posted by MeetMegan at 12:40 PM on January 30, 2006

And to follow up on picklebird's Lindt chocolate suggestion, there are Lindt outlets in many national outlet malls.
posted by MeetMegan at 12:40 PM on January 30, 2006

Wow, MM, thanks for the tip about Lindt outlets. I had no idea! And Catfood, it seems there's one in the Boston area. Definitely worth checking out.
posted by picklebird at 12:50 PM on January 30, 2006

Maybe I'll cut & paste the nutrition facts & ingredients on my version of the wrapper, thanks for the warning, MeetMegan.

I can probably go up to $2 a bar - I just definitely do not want to go as high as $3 because I need to make 120 favors and I'd like to keep things under $300 for favors.

Thanks all for your suggestions! I am seriously considering Lindt, for some reason I thought they were far more expensive.
posted by catfood at 12:51 PM on January 30, 2006

Scharffenberger makes amazing chocolate -- we gave out their chocolates and caramels at our wedding. The chocolate bars come in a variety of sizes and price points. The 5-gram squares are cute and tasty, and well within your price range (two for a buck).

On preview: if you're willing to go up to $2, the 1 oz. bars seem perfect.
posted by brain_drain at 12:53 PM on January 30, 2006

World's Finest Chocolate.
posted by scody at 12:54 PM on January 30, 2006

If you wander into the baking goods isle of youl local supermarket, you might actually find some acceptable chocolate bars there.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:56 PM on January 30, 2006

brain_drain - Scharffenberger is made by Hershey's. I learned that at the Hershey store in downtown Chicago. Funny, huh?
posted by MeetMegan at 12:58 PM on January 30, 2006

Green and Black's make 20g bars that would be in your range (if you can find them in the USA). They are my favorite, and I think they give more of a "chocolate kick" than Lindt (which are also great).
posted by teleskiving at 1:08 PM on January 30, 2006

On a totally unrelated note, these are the best chocolate bars in the known universe. This is not opinion. It is fact. Sadly they are not available for a buck a piece.
posted by The Bellman at 1:09 PM on January 30, 2006

MeetMegan: Yep, Hershey's bought Scharffenberger last year to get a toehold in the "upscale" chocolate market. I hope they don't mess it up!
posted by brain_drain at 1:13 PM on January 30, 2006

I recently tasted Green and Black's for the first time, and it just boaut blows everything else away, IMHO.

Worth seeking out to taste. I get them at Dean & Deluca.
posted by o2b at 1:17 PM on January 30, 2006

brain_drain - Scharffenberger is made by Hershey's. I learned that at the Hershey store in downtown Chicago. Funny, huh?

Hershey just bought them in December of 2005. I haven't heard yet whether they've actually changed ingredients/production or not.

What I mean is, Scharffen Berger still makes a fine piece of chocolate as far as I'm aware.
posted by birdie birdington at 1:17 PM on January 30, 2006

A quick google search on wedding favors chocolate bar brings up a bunch of companies that will do this for you with your own customized design in the $1.50-$2.00 per bar range.
posted by platinum at 1:18 PM on January 30, 2006

Platinum - I've seen tons of those before, but I'm really not into the "custom wrappers" with the hearts or chapels or doves or whatever.

I really just want some decent chocolate bars that I can rewrap myself. Thanks though!

The Scharffen Berger ones look great! I love their little squares!
posted by catfood at 1:22 PM on January 30, 2006

If you can go up in price, I really like Dagoba chocolate, and if you hunt around a bit you can find people selling 12 bar boxes at discounted prices.
posted by gnat at 1:31 PM on January 30, 2006

We used the little Scharffenberger squares at our wedding, too. We stacked a milk, mocha, and mint square and wrapped in twine like a little package. Almost all of our guests were from small towns in the Midwest, where Scharff isn't readily available. They thought loved them.
posted by DakotaPaul at 2:05 PM on January 30, 2006

I'm thinking of doing something similar DakotaPaul. I might get a couple of different flavors of the squares and package them up in little gift boxes instead of re-wrapping them.

First though I need to order some and do a taste test. My favorite part of the whole process, I think. :-d
posted by catfood at 2:07 PM on January 30, 2006

i'm going to go thought love me some scharffen berger right now!
posted by joeblough at 5:37 PM on January 30, 2006

i understand you want to design your own wrapper, so this suggestion may not be helpful at all, but when i read your question i immediately thought of chocolove bars. if the wrapper effort becomes too complex, these could be a cool love-themed option. i like 'em cuz they look like love letters from around the world. i've tried several of the flavors and they were all quite delicious.
posted by lapolla at 4:11 AM on January 31, 2006