In My Interpretation

What’s behind the high prices of designer chocolate? Is there something truly special behind these confections, or are chocoholics simply shelling out for the cachet of a name?

The increased availability and awareness of luxury chocolates also brings to light their high — indeed, sometimes staggering — cost. Intrigued that this sweet stuff could cost so much, I researched (and tasted!) five top-tier brands to learn what makes them so pricey.

I started with the most expensive brand I could find: the dark chocolate truffle by Norwalk, Conn.-based Knipschildt Chocolatier. The price for this confection is $2,600 a pound, or $250 a piece. No, that’s not a typo, and no, I didn’t actually get to sample this one. It sports an astronomical price tag there is a whole, real black truffle in the center of the chocolate. When an order is placed for a single truffle or for a box, the black truffle is actually hunted down in France and shipped stateside, so each piece is made to order. It is encased in dark chocolate and dusted with cocoa powder just before delivery to the customer. Even if you can’t spring the cost of this truffle, Knipschildt has other bonbons and chocolate creations in its collection, starting as low as $1.75 a piece.

Unlike Knipschildt, chocophiles wishing to try Dallas-based NOKA chocolatier won’t find low prices on any pieces — a pound costs nearly $900. The company focuses on single-estate dark chocolate made with a minimum of 75% cacao, sourced from plantations in Venezuela, Ecuador and the Ivory Coast. Missing from the couvertures — the plain chocolate — are emulsifiers such as vanilla or soy lecithin — a rare exception in chocolatiers and the main reason for the steep cost.