Locally made or mass-produced chocolate – what's the difference?

A group of Kiwi chocolate makers are rolling out a new logo to certify their product is made local – with a new slogan "a bar apart".

Chocolate expert and judge Luke Owen Smith dreamt up the initiative to clear up what’s locally made, compared to globally mass-produced chocolate.

“It's going to start appearing on the packaging of our 14 founding chocolate makers as well as websites and various other places,” he said.

“When people are shopping for chocolate, they can know that this is bean-to-bar chocolate that's truly made from scratch in New Zealand as well as made with transparently sourced beans.”

The group notes the difference between chocolatiers and chocolate makers, with chocolatiers working usually working with pre-made chocolate and chocolate makers completing the whole process from beans to bar.

Chocolate Foundry in Silverdale is one of 20 chocolate makers around the motu doing things totally from scratch.

Co-founder David Herrick said keeping their bars simple is the key.

“Unflavoured 70% dark craft chocolate, that’s what we specialise in. We only use two ingredients, cacao beans and organic sugar.”

Herrick said where the cacao is sourced from and how it was roasted dictates flavour.

"It is like eating the best wine in the world in a craft chocolate bar, that's what we do."

The process of making chocolate locally is not quick, and takes three weeks all up. After roasting, the beans are cracked then ground into a silky liquor, refined tempered and moulded. Once the chocolate is set, it is ready to be wrapped.

It will cost $800 a year to display the "A Bar Apart" logo on products.

There are no mandatory country of origin rules that apply to chocolate but Consumer New Zealand said any claims made by brands are covered under the Fair Trading Act and must be correct.

Researcher Belinda Castles said a similar logo had been used by the olive oil industry a few years ago and it was important to note that some products without a label could still qualify.

"Just because the product doesn't have it doesn't mean it's not necessarily meeting the same criteria,” Castles said.

Smith said for those wondering where to start, ingredients are the best signal of quality.

"If you pick up like an industrial bar chocolate, it will often be filled with other additives such as vegetable, fats, fake vanilla flavour."

The certification logo roll out will ramp up in July.