Dining
Choc IT UP
If you’re a chocolate-lover like most people with a pulse and taste buds, you’ll adore these locally found, guilt-free chocolate treats that are a cut above your average Mars. By Carla Thomas.
NUCAO The invention of three German engineering students who struggled to find healthy, non-artificial snacks for their study sessions, this vegan, low-carb chocolate bar swaps cocoa butter and sugar for hemp seeds, drastically reducing its sugar and fat content. Touted as the first chocolate with inner values, Nucao also participates in a 1:1 reforestation program, planting one mangrove tree in Madagascar for every bar they sell, with plastic-free packaging solutions to keep their chocolate as green and sustainable as possible. Already a hit in Europe, this highnutrient treat made its way to Hong Kong late last year and is available in various stockists around the city. $48 per bar. Available at Tealosophy, Beer Bay and Barre 2 Barre. nucao.hk.
PURA VIDA Who says you can’t have dessert for breakfast? This Chocolate Cranberry granola from Pura Vida mixes ancient grains buckwheat and amaranth with unsweetened cacao, almonds, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds and cranberries, with no refined sugar or preservatives. The crunchy granola goes down a treat, but slurping up the chocolatey milk left in the bowl is the height of satisfaction, and a welcome throwback to childhood. $95 per 250g bag. Available at various locations, including Green Common, SpiceBox Organics and Edgar, or order online at puravidahkg.com. 14
