Ghirardelli semisweet chips no longer vegan
- Thread starter PTree15
- Start date
Chryssie
Internet Junkie
That is super inexpensive. The least expensive chocolate bar that I've found that's sort of vegan is at Ikea - 99 cents for that size (the label says it "may contain" trace amounts of milk products). That's about half of what a vegan chocolate bar costs at Aldi, and Aldi is much cheaper than anywhere else.
Actually, I haven't bought the shop rite brand in awhile so hopefully it hasn't changed. I'm sure PTree will check before buying them. (Tags PTree)Sometimes the store brands are "accidently" vegan but I don't think I have found any in a long time. I can't afford the HFS brands.
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SapphireLightning
Forum Legend
For a super super super cheap dark chocolate to make chips out of (atleast in the US) is at Reny's. Their own brand of dark chocolate bars are accidentally vegan, and cost about 80 cents a bar. I make sure to pick up a bunch of them whenever I find myself in a Reny's.
Edit: Oops, looks like Reny's is only in the far north east of the US.
Edit: Oops, looks like Reny's is only in the far north east of the US.
Most cheap chocolate brands contain lots of sugar and inexpensive, unhealthy fat. Sometimes it's worth forking out that bit extra to buy better quality chocolate.
OMG, I love Reny's. I have friends in Maine, and I always make them take me there for some stocking up. That store is awesome. Thanks for the heads-up on the chocolate. I will definitely be getting some when I go up there next.
So I got a response from Ghirardelli on the semisweet chips complaint:
"Thank you for taking the time to contact Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. We take your feedback seriously and appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. We did recently make changes to our Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip recipe by adding milk as one of the ingredients. Even though the change was made as a way for us to continually improve our products, it does not impact taste or baking performance. We do realize that this change may impact some of our consumers' ability to enjoy this product, and for that we do apologize.
If dairy is a concern for you, we would like to suggest trying our 70% Cacao Extra Bittersweet Chocolate Bar as an alternative for your baking and chocolate needs.
We hope that we have addressed your concerns – and that you will continue to enjoy the quality chocolate experience of Ghirardelli."
First off, swapping the bittersweet chocolate for the semisweet is a big difference in taste, so that's a no-go.
Second, they claim to be improving the product by adding milk, yet in the next breath they say the milk has no impact on taste or performance. What other improvements (aside from texture) would qualify as a desire to better the product? In my response I noted that and suggested the change had more to do with improving the company's bottom line than with satisfying their customers. What a crock!
"Thank you for taking the time to contact Ghirardelli Chocolate Company. We take your feedback seriously and appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. We did recently make changes to our Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip recipe by adding milk as one of the ingredients. Even though the change was made as a way for us to continually improve our products, it does not impact taste or baking performance. We do realize that this change may impact some of our consumers' ability to enjoy this product, and for that we do apologize.
If dairy is a concern for you, we would like to suggest trying our 70% Cacao Extra Bittersweet Chocolate Bar as an alternative for your baking and chocolate needs.
We hope that we have addressed your concerns – and that you will continue to enjoy the quality chocolate experience of Ghirardelli."
First off, swapping the bittersweet chocolate for the semisweet is a big difference in taste, so that's a no-go.
Second, they claim to be improving the product by adding milk, yet in the next breath they say the milk has no impact on taste or performance. What other improvements (aside from texture) would qualify as a desire to better the product? In my response I noted that and suggested the change had more to do with improving the company's bottom line than with satisfying their customers. What a crock!
^^^Yep- their response to you was definitely strange. Adding milk won't really change much of anything, yet they acknowledge that their semisweet chips will no longer be acceptable to some folks (vegans, lactose-intolerant, maybe those with other dietary restrictions...)
Calliegirl
Forum Legend
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2012
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- 5,816
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- Vegan
The only thing it changed was their profit margin. Milk is cheaper than chocolate.
I would write back and ask them in what way did it improve their product if it didn't change the texture or flavor.
I would write back and ask them in what way did it improve their product if it didn't change the texture or flavor.
I did indeed ask what the supposed improvement(s) was in my response. I'm sure they will give me some other unintelligible, convoluted corporate-speak to explain the change. I also said I'd be telling everyone I know about this and telling people to boycott them.
