Bean-to-bar chocolate stands out for its unparalleled flavours, ethical sourcing, environmental practices, relative health benefits, and distinctiveness.

Flavour: Bean-to-bar offers richer, more distinctive, varied, and complex flavours. Plus they include unique "inclusion" bars that use rare regionally-specific, often adventurous ingredients.

Ethics: Our makers prioritize ethical and transparent sourcing practices, meaning respectful treatment for farmers, paying fair wages, and supporting local communities by buying direct.

Environment: We can all agree smaller, more sustainable farming practices and eco-friendly packaging are good things. "Made at Origin" bars reduce the environmental footprint even further by processing chocolate where it's farmed.

Health: Who wants to eat hydrogenated palm oil or high fructose corn syrup? These bars are made without additives, preservatives, less sugar, are soy- and GMO-free, and many are also organic.

Distinction: Handmade, micro-lot bars crafted from single estate and/or single vintage beans result in distinguished, truly one-of-a-kind characteristics that are impossible to replicate.

Mass-produced chocolate is cheaper due to exploitative practices like slave and child labour, poor environmental standards, and the use of cheap fillers, added "flavours" and preservatives. These methods reduce prices but come at significant human and environmental costs.

Bean-to-bar chocolate is priced higher because it prioritizes quality, ethics, and sustainability. The bars we sell are made using premium (and often ultra-rare!) cacao beans, they ensure fair compensation for farmers, and employ environmentally friendly practices.

The artisanal production process and high-quality ingredients creates a superior product with no need for artificial additives. These bars reflect the true value of responsible farming, fair business practices, and what's necessary to create the world's best tasting chocolate.

There's a lot of great chocolate out there and I wish I could support all amazing producers. However, if you don't see your favourite bar listed it could be for a number of reasons:

Availability: The brand might not be available at the moment or may have limited distribution.

Pricing: The costs of importing might exceed my abilities as a small independent retailer.

Demand: I may not have heard of them yet! If there are specific bars you love, please let me know! Email jan@milouchocolate.com

Not all our bars are labeled as "Fair Trade" because most of our producers focus on DIRECT trade practices, sourcing cacao either through small cooperatives or directly from farmers. Here’s why we believe this approach is superior:

Closer Relationships: Direct trade ensures one or two steps between farmer and consumer. It cuts out middle men and suspect regulators, as well as allows producers to build strong, personal relationships with farmers.

Better Compensation: By cutting out intermediaries, farmers are paid even higher prices for their cacao, directly contributing to their livelihoods and community development.

Quality Control: Direct, personal transactions ensure the highest standards of flavour and quality, in addition to fair compensation.

Transparency: Direct trade offers greater transparency in the supply chain, ensuring cacao can always be traced back to its source.

Our bars do NOT contain emulsifiers, with very rare occasional exceptions for inclusion bars that require it due to the unique ingredients used. In these cases, sunflower lecithin is used, not soy, and it is GMO-free.

Chocolate is a shelf-stable product that does not "expire" like fresh produce or meat. Like wine, flavours and texture may slowly change with time, sometimes for the better, sometimes for worse, and often this can be subjective.

The stamped shelf life for each bar varies from producer to producer, however, dark chocolate is generally given a shelf life of two-to-three years, while milk, inclusion bars, or white chocolate are generally given one year.

Proper storage in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight and strong odors helps maintain chocolate's quality for as long as possible.

This website is set up for orders delivered to Canadian or American addresses only. If you live outside these regions and wish to place an order, please email jan@milouchocolate.com to coordinate your purchase.

We fulfil all orders within 48 hours and generally have them shipped out next business day using expedited service. How long it takes to arrive depends on where you live, but you will be emailed tracking info so you don't have to guess ;)

You will be emailed a unique tracking number with a link to the tracking service of that courier. If you have questions, you can always email me at jan@milouchocolate.com

We sure do! You can find them here.

Due to the perishable nature of chocolate, and to ensure the highest standards of safety and quality for all our customers, we cannot offer refunds for any bars, even if unopened.

We also do not provide refunds based on personal taste preferences (see FAQ below).

However, we understand that exceptional circumstances may arise, and will consider refunds on a case-by-case basis.

We are also committed to doing right by our customers, so if you are not completely satisfied with your purchase, please let us know the details and we will do our best to find a satisfactory solution. Please email jan@milouchocolate.com

Part of any food journey is encountering a wide range of flavours and taste experiences. You may not love all of them, but that's an important aspect of learning and discovering new things. Even I have my preferences and dislikes, so I understand it can be disappointing when something doesn't meet your expectations.

However, we do not offer refunds or exchanges based on flavour preferences. We strive to describe the bars accurately on the product page and also believe that embracing flavour variety is essential to the learning process and expanding your palate. It's also a wonderful opportunity to share your discoveries with friends or family—sometimes they will love the flavours you don’t!

Nonetheless, we are committed to ensuring customer satisfaction. If a bar doesn't meet your expectations, please let us know why. Your feedback is invaluable in helping us understand your preferences and improve our offerings. I can be reached at jan@milouchocolate.com

Yes! Except that it’s free to join, no minimum order, no credit card needed, and no commitment necessary. Becoming an Explorer Club member simply means you’ll receive exclusive offers and discounts. You’ll learn all about the chocolates, their producers, and where they come from, but only order the shipments that interest you… or not. It’s choose your own adventure!

Yes! Explorer Club is free to join. You’ll receive exclusive offers and discounts, plus learn all about the chocolates, their producers, and where they come from, but you only order the shipments that interest you… or not. It’s choose your own adventure! 

If you are interested in a subscription, however, you can pre-order up to 3 shipments at once. This makes an excellent “chocolate of the month” club option or gift!

Yes! Explorer Club can be gifted as one, two, or three 'chocolate of the month' shipments. 

Choose which type of shipments to gift:

• PLACE which highlights the terroir of single origin and single estate chocolates from around the world.
• TASTE which spotlights unique 'inclusion' bars containing regional or culturally specific ingredients.

To learn more or gift the 'Chocolate of the Month' club, click here.

Each shipment rotates between themes of place (single origin bars) and taste (bars flavoured with cultural or culinary inclusions). Previous examples of shipments include:

PLACE: Tanzania, Vietnam, Peru.

TASTE: coffee, flowers, tropical fruits.

For more information and a list of recent or upcoming shipment, click here.

We do not store any personal or payment information. If you pre-paid for shipments the subscription will automatically cancel after you’ve received your last box. It does not auto-renew.

If you would like to stop receiving Explorer Club offers, click the “unsubscribe” button at the bottom of the email or contact jan@milouchocolate.com