Imagine enjoying a delicious piece of smooth, creamy chocolate without having to feel guilty afterward.
Choconat is a tasty and healthy raw, organic, fair-trade artisan chocolate sold exclusively by Cindy Tomblin of Cinderella Chocolates in Langley.
Tomblin is currently studying nutrition at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition in Vancouver, and is now turning her passion for healthy food (and chocolate) into a viable business.
A self-proclaimed chocolate addict, she says she is excited to offer a chocolate treat filled with nutrients and antioxidants our bodies need.
“Being raw means that the chocolate is not heated over 118 degrees so the nutrients in there can stay alive,” Tomblin said. “That’s like with any raw food, when you heat them over a certain temperature the nutrients and enzymes start to die and they deplete and fall out of the food. So having it raw it keeps the nutrients intact.”
Choconat is created from a blend of raw organic cocoa, raw organic evaporated cane sugar, organic cocoa butter and organic vanilla beans.
“Its fair trade which I think is extremely important for the health and wealth of our planet. They pick the beans fresh, they sun-dry them for two days and they ship it directly to the processing plant in the United States. And then the chocolates are made by hand. It’s really neat to see,” Tomblin said.
“My slogan is ‘eat the chocolate you wish to see in the world’ and I really believe in this.”
There are currently three flavours available, each with their own individual health benefits.
The Choconat Brut is a 72 per cent dark organic cocoa created using a special process where the cocoas flavanols — a natural part of the cocoa bean with health benefits — are retained up to 80 per cent. In the traditional chocolate making process up to 70 per cent of the cocoa flavanols are lost.
The Choconat Berries combines açaí and masqui berries with raw organic 70 per cent cocoa, resulting in a treat rich in antioxidants.
The Choconat Probiotics strengthens the good bacteria in the body by adding probiotics to a blend of dark chocolate. This added health benefit also helps with the digestion system and the immune system.
Despite their healthy properties, the chocolate even tastes great, too.
“I think it’s magical because this is really dark chocolate, which you might think is bitter, but because of the quality of the beans and because the chocolate hasn’t been cooked it has this really neat sweetness to it still and a really nice snap,” Tomblin said.
Perhaps the greatest property of the chocolate is that you really do only need one piece, Tomblin said.
“One of the really surprising things about this chocolate is it is actually amazingly satisfying. I can have one piece and I’m not running through the room to grab another piece,” she said.
“I believe it’s because it has the nutrients in it. When you eat nutrient dense food it fills you up. It satisfies you and you don’t feel like you need more. And the other thing, I actually don’t eat it everyday because I actually don’t crave it everyday. And again that has something to do with the quality.”
Tomblin first discovered Choconat through a chocolate reviewer and health food store owner in the United States. When she saw that he began selling Choconat, she decided to jump on board, buying three boxes of the product to sell before even tasting it.
“When I saw that this writer had started doing the Choconat I thought ‘oh this is interesting.’ He’s pretty knowledgeable, he must have picked this for a reason.”
After researching other distributors in Canada, she realized there were none. She is the first to introduce the product to Canada.
“It’s really exciting for me. I want people to try this, I want people to love it, because I am the first person in Canada with it. There’s a huge potential for it to grow,” she said.
One of her main goals is to pass on her nutritional education to others, planning one day to host nutritional classes in Langley.
“To have people connect with food and where it comes from I think is very important,” Tomblin said.
“My big dream is basically to change the world, and its going to happen. I feel like the knowledge I have I should be giving away and sharing with people.”
For more on Choconat visit Cindy Tomblin’s online store at www.cinderellachocolate.com or contact her at cinderella.ate@gmail.com.