Honest Chocolate
Honest chocolate? Is there such a thing? Before meeting Anthony Gird and Michael de Klerk, owners of Honest Chocolate, you may have had quite a sinister, dark and definitely waist-enhancing, view of chocolate. It was something that was eaten in moderation or behind closed doors, alone, when you had just broken up with the love of your life or when you wanted something that would physically destroy you, but taste rather good at the same time.
Draw back the curtains – let in the sunlight and open your eyes to the natural beauty that surrounds you! Let Honest Chocolate into your life.
It all started in a modest room off Anthony’s home, from a desire to eat consciously and healthily, and was at first, shared only with friends. Honest Chocolate was then sold at the Biscuit Mill in Woodstock, Cape Town and from there the popularity of this bitter tasting and healthy chocolate flourished. There were challenging times – like when they could only temper the chocolate in the cool hours of the morning, between 3 and 6am, because of the lack of an air-conditioned kitchen. They now have two shops in Cape Town and struggle to keep up with the demand for their hand crafted and hand-packaged product.
Their chocolate is made from raw cacao beans ethically sourced from Ecuador and arriving at Honest Chocolate in as a dry paste. The cacao beans are stone ground which helps to preserve the flavour and the character of the bean. Raw cacao is extremely high in antioxidants. Honest Chocolate only use agave nectar to sweeten the chocolate – no cane sugar is added and it is therefore low GI. Michael told Crush that he has been conducting a personal test monitoring his weight while eating an above average amount of Honest Chocolate each month for the last two years. He reports no weight gain and in fact he can still fit into a pair of skinny jeans!
They have also begun to experiment with a bean from Tanzania as they would like to make a chocolate sourced from African beans.
Honest Chocolate slabs come in wrappers decorated with local artists’ interpretations of the particular flavours of chocolate they encase. Look out for the pirate crossing the Kalahari Desert, illustrated by Toby Newsome, on their Kalahari salted chocolate. And don’t miss the Bushbaby (or nagapie) by Marsi lurking on the bar of 72% with coffee.
A mouth-wateringly delicious chocolate that is hand crafted by four passionate artisans, with added health benefits – this is similar to finding out that fried bacon will help with cholesterol! Go out and consume skyscrapers of Honest Chocolate!
Look out for them at various outlets around the country or pop in and visit them at their two shops in Cape Town.
Wale Street Shop
66 Wale Street, Cape Town, South Africa
Telephone: 021 423 8762
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri (9am-5pm), Sat (10am-2pm)
Woodstock Shop
The Woodstock Exchange, 66 Albert Road, Cape Town, South Africa
Telephone: 021 447 1438
Opening Hours: Mon-Fri (9am-5pm), Sat (10am-2pm)