Loving Earth Review & Giveaway

Whilst it was the gorgeous packaging that first drew me towards the Loving Earth stall at the Just V show earlier this year I was further sucked in by their ridiculously delicious chocolate bars - raw food has no business being this good! Their flavours range from the super dark 85% Dark bar all the way through to the Creamy bar which is made from 47% cacao and 23% coconut.

My veganism has always been driven by my love for animals first but my love for the environment comes in a close second. I know, I know, I fly a lot but I also pay to recycle all of the plastics, try to buy products in recycled packaging or, even better, with no packaging, I travel by train or bus whenever time allows, and I've never owned a car. What I'm saying is that whilst I was originally sucked in by the taste of these coconuty chocolate treats I've become a loyal customer because it turns out that Loving Earth really do love the earth.

Their whole philosophy is based upon respect for the environment and sustainability plays a big part in that. Loving Earth's bars come in 80g and 30g packs and all of their packaging is sustainable, the 80g boxes are made from post-consumer fibres and printed with vegetable inks and the 30g packs are compostable and made from cellulose from sustainably managed trees. Even the clear film the chocolate itself is wrapped in is made from a 100% renewable and compostable vegetable source.

The other totally radical thing about Loving Earth is that they believe in treating people fairly too. This shouldn't be radical but sadly in these days of mass inequality and out of control capitalism caring for people who are less well off than you is a radical act. Loving Earth's chocolate bars are Food Empowerment Project certified which means that they don't source any of their cocoa from areas where child slavery is rife. If this is an issue that you care about I would strongly suggest not only downloading The Food Empowerment Project's handy free app but also e-mailing the companies you buy from, or have bought from in the past, who are on their not recommended list. It's so important to let these companies know that you won't purchase their chocolate until they make 100% sure that child labour and slavery were not a part of their supply chain.

Flavour wise the Loving Earth range is made up of eleven coconut nectar sweetened bars and flavours range from the fruity, Raspberry, Lemon, and Mandarin, to creamy bars like Hazelnut, Salted Caramel, Mylk, Creamy, and Caramel, all the way through to the more intense dark chocolate in the Dark, 85% Dark, and Mint bars. I like them all but I've fallen head over heels for a few of the flavours. I'm totally in love with the creamy, rich, 42% cocoa butter, Hazelnut bar which includes 30% raw creamed hazelnuts. It's a totally dreamy bar of chocolate and one that I will be buying over and over.

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Next on my favourites list is the very lightly salted Salted Caramel bar closely followed by the straight up Caramel bar. Both have a cacao content of 36% making them delightfully creamy. I'm also really digging the Mylk and Creamy bars and, when I want something totally different, the 85% Dark bar is intensely rich and I often find that one or two squares is enough to satisfy my chocolate cravings. 

If these bars sound like something that you need to get your hands on asap then you can get your Loving Earth fix from Planet Organic in London, Brighton's Infinity Foods, and Surbiton Natural Health Centre among others. Let me know if you've seen Loving Earth bars at an independent health food store near you so that I can update this list!

Because it seemed totally unfair to tell you all about these delicious chocolate bars and not let you get in on some of the creamy cocoa based action yourself, and because it's nearly Christmas, myself and the wonderful people at Loving Earth have put together a little giveaway for Vegan in Brighton readers. 

Three lucky winners will win three Loving Earth bars each, one bar of Salted Caramel, one bar of 85% Dark, and one bar of Hazelnut. The giveaway is open to residents of the UK and all that you need to do to enter is leave me a comment telling me who you'd share your chocolate bars with as well as your contact details - Twitter, Instagram, and e-mail are all a-ok. The competition closes at 23:59 on Friday 16th December and the winners will be notified on Saturday 17th December. Good luck!

This post was sponsored by Loving Earth but as always all opinions are both totally unbiased and 100% my own.