Ghana – Black Chocolate from Lotte

I am from Ghana, and so is some of the best damn cocoa in the world. The local economy of Ghana actually depends on 2 things, gold and cocoa because those are our main exports. But once the cocoa is exported it is utilized by numerous well reputed chocolate manufacturers but none of the recognition comes back to Ghana. It was a pleasant surprise for me to walk into the 7-11 yesterday and see Lotte Ghana Brand Black Chocolate on the shelf.

Some of my friends have told me about the Ghana chocolate, and one was even kind enough to bring me back an empty packaging. Empty. How thoughtful. There seems to be this whole craze going on now for dark chocolates with the percentage of cocoa or cacao they contain printed on the outer box. As with this Lotte Ghana brand, they appear to be made for the Japanese market.

The packaging of Ghana Brand Chocolate is quite attractive in a minimalist sort of way. Rather than use bright colors that pop to attract the consumers attention they have used the subtle shades of gold and dark brown. The window on the front of the box also gives a clear view to the gold Lotte wrappers within.

The compartment that houses the chocolates neatly slides out revealing 2 rows of 14 bite size chocolates. In total that is 28 pieces of dark chocolate to titillate your senses with. The display case is attractive and suitable to put out as it is for desert after a dinner party. The fact that the chocolate is called Ghana might also be an interesting conversation starter.

The piece of chocolate contained within the wrapper has a large groove moulded out from the center of it. This actually feels quite pleasant when resting the niblet on your tongue. However, from a manufacturer’s point of view, they actually made the piece of chocolate appear to be 25% larger than it actually is! That is a huge saving just by effectively implying a nifty design element. Those bastards.

What most people consider a one bite piece of chocolate is 2 bites for me. I like to savor every piece. I took these pictures just as I came to work this morning at 8am. Chocolate for breakfast rocks. Popping a full slab in your mouth just aint right. I can’t think of an appropriate metaphor right now, but it just aint right.

I am not really a fan of dark chocolate but I must say that Lotte Ghana Black Chocolate is as their packaging professes, ‘excellent’ and it really does exude ‘the authentic rich flavor of cacao’. Usually find dark chocolates to be too brittle and bitter but this had a really silky texture and a mellow sweet after taste. Just looking down at the packaging with the name Ghana printed across the top of it also makes my heart swell with pride. I have been on the lookout for this for a while now and I am glad I found it.