Featured Supplier: Caroboo
19/09/2023
Our Story
Caroboo started up in the hills of Yorkshire at Charlotte and Darran’s kitchen table with a small chocolate refining machine and a mission to create better-for-you, lower-sugar choc from carob.
Charlotte discovered carob on a trip to Australia with her young family and was inspired to bring it back to the UK with a modern touch and a wider appeal for people wanting to make healthier snacking choices personally and for their families. With a creative spirit and a methodical approach, the tiny chocolate refining machine whirred away for the 32 different recipes it took to create our range of super smooth, creamy, and ridiculously chocolatey bars that have converted many a die-hard milk choc fan!
As a self-confessed sugar addict, Charlotte intentionally formulated the recipe to contain a minimum of 30% less sugar than mass-market milk chocolate bars but with the same melt-in-the mouth texture. We actually ended up with a product that was 45% lower in sugar but without compromising on the taste and texture that we know people look for in chocolate snacks.
Caffeine-free Delicious Carob Choc
Since our launch into independent retailers in 2020, we’ve found an incredible tribe of Caroboo lovers because of the unique properties of our bars and our commitment to doing things the right way, even though we are very much still in our infancy as a brand.
The Caroboo Commitment
Our organic carob is sourced from a multigenerational carob farm in the Mediterranean, which produces beautiful sweet carob pods. We blend this with our Rainforest Alliance-certified cocoa butter, organic coconut sugar, and creamed coconut to make our version of carob heaven. Our coconut products are sourced from Indonesia and use humane and animal-friendly harvesting methods. Our supplier of coconut works directly with the growing communities to empower female farmers and educate on sustainable farming practices.
Our bars have been made to be vegan-friendly, from the ingredients we source to the inks we use to print our packaging! We have been Vegan Society approved from day one.
We invested early on in home compostable wrappers that break down on contact with soil and water within 16–24 weeks. We have created a brand and a range that really put the planet and people at the heart of everything we do.
Choc-less Life
Since our launch, we have found a loyal customer base that loves our bars because we give back a moment of chocolatey indulgence to customers that thought they were destined to live a choc-less life due to intolerances to caffeine and theobromine. This is one of the many reasons we love carob and champion it: carob is naturally caffeine-free.
For our customers that suffer from inflammatory conditions, from those living with ADHD and anxiety to menopausal women whose symptoms are all made worse with caffeine and refined sugar, we have given them back a moment of joy. We don’t believe anyone should have to live a choc-less life!
Our Team
Caroboo is made up of a lively and dedicated team of (mostly) women who are spreading the good carob news everywhere they go. From our dedicated sales director to our marketing team (who will gladly support listings with samples) to our founders Charlotte and Darran, whom you can meet at the Essential Greener Futures Open Day on the 24th September.
Our complete range of caffeine-free, lower-sugar vegan carob chocolate bars can be found here on the Essential website