Foundry Chocolate Vanuatu 70% Dark Chocolate Bar

70 g bar - New Zealand

Not every extraordinary chocolate needs to announce itself with an explosion of fruit or spice. Sometimes the magic is in the quiet, comforting flavors that make you want to close your eyes, settle in, and let another square melt slowly on your tongue. Foundry Chocolate's Vanuatu 70% is just that kind of chocolate. Made with cacao from a remote village on Malekula Island in the South Pacific, it's an irresistible combination of rich maltiness, silky caramel, and beautifully rounded chocolate flavor.

We're especially taken with the mellow character of this bar. There's a wonderful malty richness that reminds us of toasted grains and old-fashioned malted milk confections, followed by soft, flowing caramel notes that give the chocolate an almost luxurious warmth. Rather than jumping from one bold flavor to another, this chocolate invites us to appreciate the subtle interplay of its flavors and the way they linger together. Sometimes restraint can be every bit as exciting as intensity.

And here's what makes it even more fascinating: there's no milk, malt, or caramel in this chocolate. Just cacao beans and organic cane sugar. Those comforting flavors are the natural expression of the cacao, coaxed into focus through Foundry's careful bean-to-bar craftsmanship.

The beans come from Pinalum Village, tucked into the lush northeastern hills of Malekula Island in Vanuatu. Since 2015, a small group of local farmers has been developing a reputation for exceptional fine-flavor cacao, working with Olivier Fernandez of Gaston Cacao to improve cultivation, fermentation, and drying practices.

At the heart of the operation is Lily Buktan, a local leader who manages the village's fermentation and drying station. Working alongside her extended family, Lily oversees the careful processing of the harvested cacao. The post-harvest steps are enormously important to chocolate flavor. Even exceptional cacao genetics can't reach their full potential without skilled fermentation and drying, and we're always excited to see that expertise recognized as part of a chocolate's origin story.

There's an equally important economic story here. Olivier and the Pinalum growers have worked to move away from the traditional commodity cacao model, investing in better processing infrastructure and training so farmers can produce higher-quality beans and receive significantly better prices. According to the sourcing project, individual growers can earn two to three times what they received through previous market channels. The work has also supported improvements to basic water and electricity services in the community.

We'd recommend this bar to anyone who loves caramel, malted flavors, or richly satisfying dark chocolate without pronounced acidity. And for the adventurous chocolate taster, it's a reminder that subtlety can be just as fascinating as a wildly fruit-forward flavor profile.

Tasting Notes: Rich malt, toasted grains, silky caramel, mellow chocolate richness, warm lingering finish.

Cacao Origin: Pinalum Village, Malekula Island, Vanuatu. 2024 vintage.

Ingredients: Cacao beans, organic cane sugar. No added cacao butter, lecithin, or vanilla.

Dietary: Dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, vegan, and 100% plant-based.

About Foundry Chocolate

Just north of Auckland, New Zealand, husband-and-wife team David and Janelle Herrick create extraordinary micro-batch bean-to-bar chocolate with an almost obsessive devotion to cacao's natural flavors. Working with exceptional single-origin beans, Foundry uses just cacao and organic sugar in its dark chocolate—or pure cacao for its 100% bars. No added cacao butter, vanilla, or lecithin. Their meticulous approach has earned numerous international awards, including Best in Show at the 2024 Northwest Chocolate Festival. Every bar is a delicious exploration of what makes each cacao origin unique.

Explore the full Foundry Chocolate collection at ChefShop.