GREAT VALUE HAZELNUT MILK CHOCOLATE

Hello beautiful chocolate lovers! Are you indulging in endless amounts of sweets, chocos to be exact? Let’s hope so, otherwise life will be outright stodgy, he he he. For today’s review, ohhhhhh hold on now, wait a second, what do we have here, a Great Value Brand, could this be Walmart’s own….. Yes, indeed it is! How about that!!! To make matters even more intriguing - MADE in Switzerland, the land of the cows, or yoghurt, or chocolates, or….. You are probably wondering how and why would Great Value make a chocolate, half-way across the world, and then charge only $1.00? Where is the markup, who is the middlemen, how much does this chocolate cost to produce, is it even possible? Okay, one question at a time people.

Coop, one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale company is behind it all. They recently opened a new production centre near Basel where Walmart’s Great Value Brand is magically formulated. It is expensive to produce the chocolate in Switzerland, and even more so since the Great Value Brand does not receive any government subsidies. Reason: in order to qualify for subsidies, under the Swiss “Schoggilaw” (Chocolate Law), only manufacturers using milk and wheat in their chocolates will be entitled to export subsidies to compensate for the high cost of these agricultural ingredients. The Great Value Brand has 60 % cacao and zero milk. No subsidy but quite Impressive! What is all of this fuss about then, how is the money made at the end of it all? Well, for starters, the Swiss manufacturing plant is certainly much more efficient when it is running 100 % of the time as opposed to 50 % for example. This means that even if they are making only a couple of cents on each bar, it is much more lucrative for them to have the factory running at full speed as opposed to 1/3 of its capacity. At the end, everyone is a happy gal, including the ones devouring. 
 
Now for the real test, the flavour. You are most likely scratching your heads wondering if this tastes mediocre or absolutely dreadful. Let me further articulate. NEITHER! The Great Value Hazelnut Milk Chocolate tastes absolutely enticing. Smooth with a pleasant crunch, creamy, and fluid. Sugar does happen to be the very first ingredient on the list but regardless, it equates to a superb sweet balance. This is due to the Cocoa Butter. The Swiss are very fond of using this highly prized ingredient in many of their chocolates. Laaderach and Lindt are both famous for the generous quantity of cocoa butter in their bon bons. As for the hazelnuts, I would have preferred for them to be the second ingredient on the list as that is what the chocolate is supposed to be defined by. In addition, the whole milk powder and/or whey powder should certainly have been more thoroughly thought through. Nevertheless, for the price of the chocolate and its simplicity, I would highly recommend it to anyone on a budget or even if you are not. It is just good enough. This bar can hold its own among the more expensive contenders. Way to go Great Value Hazelnut Milk Chocolate. Yes, I would definitely repurchase. 
 
ChocolisciouslyDelightful Rating: 4.1 / 5.0 
 
Ingredients: Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Whole Milk Powder, Hazelnuts, Chocolate Liquor, Whey Powder, Butter Fat, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavour
 
Contains: Milk, Hazelnuts, Soy
 
May Contain: Other Tree Nuts, Eggs, Barley
 
NUTRITION FACTS                        
Amount                                                  Per 10 Squares (42)                 % Daily Value
 
Calories                                                              230
Fat                                                                    14 g                             22 %         
   Saturated                                                         7 g                             36 % (Saturated and Trans)
   Trans                                                             0.1 g                       
Cholesterol                                                       10 mg
Sodium                                                             0 mg                             1 %                     
Carbohydrate                                                      24 g                             8 %
   Fibre                                                                 1 g                             4 %
   Sugars                                                             21 g
Protein                                                                 2 g
Vitamin A                                                                                               0 %
Vitamin C                                                                                               0 %
Calcium                                                                                                  6 %
Iron                                                                                                        2 %