(egg clinking) (egg cracking and sizzling)
(uptempo music)
- Hello, and welcome back to SortedFood.
- Ebbers, why am I dressed like this?
- Well, Easter is just around the corner,
and we thought we'd have a little look
at some of the Easter eggs that have caught our eye
this year on the UK shelves.
- Still don't understand why I'm dressed as a carrot.
- Did you just want to see my cock-a-doodle-do?
(Barry snickers)
(upbeat music)
- Barry you're in the chocolate hot seat first.
Lift up cloche on number one.
- This is gonna be a good day.
Sandwiches?
Oh, oh, okay. - Egg sandwiches.
- (laughs) Egg sandwiches!
- [Ben] Baz, these are the Hotel Chocolat
egg sandwich range.
Fancy an egg sandwich?
Well, we've used slices of 3D scanned real bread
to create an authentic chocolate mould.
Sandwiched between 36% milk chocolate
is a caramayo yolk made up of silky white chocolate.
- Move them, move them. - I can't, I can't.
- [Jamie] No, don't put them near your chest.
Don't, no! (Jamie laughs)
- I couldn't help myself.
I'm only human! (Jamie laughs)
- You're not, you're a carrot!
- Sorry. (Barry laughs)
- So hang on a second mate,
they didn't just cut a sheet of chocolate into triangles,
they went to the extent of 3D printing the shape
of a slice of bread? - I mean,
3D moulding is not unusual in chocolate work;
however, the fact that this has been moulded
around actual slices of wholemeal bread.
- It feels really good fun. - It is good fun.
And it's very good, high quality chocolate.
I wanna try the egg bit.
(Jamie gasps) Hollow.
Again, it's really high quality chocolate,
hint of caramel in there.
It grabs your attention, it's a bit of fun,
which all these need to be.
- FYI, none of these are #ad.
We've picked them because they're interesting to us
and we think they can spark intriguing conversations,
so we bought them all with our own money.
- Do you want the lamb and mint, and marmalade one?
- Bloody love marmalade.
Only disappointing thing, Baz? - Yeah?
- No triple sandwich. (Barry laughs)
It's my favourite ones to go for.
Mmm. (chocolate crunching)
- You're getting more mint or more lamb?
- A lot more mint.
- I picked this one 'cause I thought,
"A bit of fun with a novelty
around language and play on words,
and different packaging that catches your attention."
We also know good sustainable chocolate,
so they've always had a very strong reliance
on principles around sourcing all of their cocoa,
and they even have their own plantation in St. Lucia
with an actual hotel, an actual Hotel Chocolat,
where they get some of their cocoa,
but everything they do is super sustainable.
- That is spectacular.
- Easter's about giving and receiving.
Would you give it?
Would you receive it?
- I would definitely give this one
because it's novelty with a hint of class,
which I think is Sorted, isn't it, really?
- He says in a carrot costume. (boys laughing)
Okay Baz, whether you want to give it or receive it,
let's talk price.
How much each? - £5.
- Twice that, at £10 each,
£9 if you buy them as a set of three.
- It's still not cheap, but yeah,
I think I like this one.
I'm gonna take this home, thank you.
(upbeat rock music)
- Conversation number two J, lift the cloche.
- Is this one of the ones I laid earlier?
- I hope not.
- Oh! It's a Belgian ruby chocolate geometric egg.
- [Ben] Yes Jamie, this is Aldi's hand-decorated,
smooth and fruity Belgian ruby geometric egg.
It's a geometric shaped Easter egg
with no plastic in its packaging.
- It feels to me like ruby chocolate
became a thing a year or two ago,
and I hadn't ever seen it before,
and now I see it in a lot of places.
- For clarity, ruby chocolate isn't chocolate dyed ruby,
it is that colour. - Yes.
So it is kind of the 4th type of chocolate, you're right,
it's been in development for a number of years,
but now you can get it in a number of different varieties.
It is essentially, we think,
speculation on this, a trade secret,
unfermented Brazilian cocoa beans that are that colour.
So it is a different process,
and you get that fruitiness from the flesh
that comes around it,
as opposed to the fermented roasted cocoa beans;
they're slightly different.
And partly, the geometric shape gives it strength.
More stability than a regular egg,
and therefore, the packaging can be less.
We know that Easter eggs often come in a lot of packaging.
Dig in, J. (egg thuds)
- [Barry] Mate, - It's strong!
- [Barry] It's because the shape is stronger there.
- [Ben] Geometric, isn't it? (egg thuds)
Now J, they say the flat bottom means
(egg thuds) that it does not need
a concave plastic insert to support it.
It can just stay flat in a cardboard box,
and this is part of Aldi's initiative to eliminate 29 tonnes
of plastic from its Easter egg range this year.
- That sounds quite commendable.
- Most importantly, what's it taste like?
- Ruby chocolate is really interesting
because it's so fruity, it's like a berry.
It's very, very sweet,
very, very fruity, it doesn't taste like normal chocolate.
- It's definitely close to white chocolate
than darker chocolate.
- For me, it tastes like white chocolate
and raspberry together.
You got that tang of fruit and berry,
but the creaminess and sweetness of white chocolate.
- It's really interesting,
and I wonder whether the colour is helping that as well,
because it stands out and it is different,
and it's not an artificial colour,
it's the colour of the chocolate.
- So for those who don't know,
Aldi is one of the more affordable supermarkets in the UK
and across Europe.
So with that in mind J, how much for this egg?
- I'm gonna say £6.
- You can have two for that.
- Oh? - £2.99.
- Whoa, okay, wow. - [Barry] Whoa, interesting.
- [Jamie] That's much cheaper
than I thought it was gonna be.
- [Barry] I also presumed
that ruby chocolate would be more expensive.
- I'm sure it is more expensive
than a simple milk or dark chocolate,
but as it's beginning to gain popularity
and scale in production, it's becoming more affordable.
A few years ago, it was very expensive.
- We know one of the things supermarkets are really good at
is producing loss leaders,
so an item that they produce for a certain price,
and then they sell it for lower than that
because it gets you into the store and you buy other things
and that's where they'll make their profit.
I wonder whether that's one of those items,
because for me, that feels like a really good quality egg,
and I'm surprised at the price.
(lively trumpet)
- Barry, number three, lift the cloche.
- It's not an egg. - It's an "egg-plant".
- It's not, it's an aubergine Ben.
(Jamie chortles)
- [Ben] This is M&S's vegan offering this year,
so it is a vegan Easter egg, it is an eggplant.
- Correct me if I'm wrong,
but I don't think the shape of the chocolate is the problem
when it comes to veganism. (Jamie snickers)
- If you're a vegan, do you want to be eating an egg?
You don't eat eggs.
You do eat aubergines. - Apart from the shape,
this is more my sort of Easter egg.
I like a dark chocolate Easter egg.
- Good shine to it, have a crack, have a taste.
- Is this gonna be a thing today?
- [Jamie] It's gonna be a thing.
(chocolate thuds)
Oh! That didn't crack in the way I thought it would.
(Barry laughs) - Not along the seam,
interestingly enough. - Don't call it a seam.
- Barry, this is named "Best Vegan Easter Egg"
by the BBC Good Food,
and it's definitely got people talking for obvious reasons.
What do you think?
- I'll start off with the chocolate.
It does taste really nice; really, really pleasant.
I don't think there's the highest quality chocolate,
only because it's ever so slightly a chalkiness
to the chocolate,
which makes me think it's not super high end.
I think it's a midrange, dark, rich chocolate.
Don't know what percentage it is.
Oh, 55%. - Not very high,
and therefore, normally I would associate that
with milk chocolate and a lot of dairy.
Obviously, that's not using dairy as we know it.
- Yeah, I'd expect more 80,
90% for a premium dark chocolate.
- The concentration of cocoa solids
doesn't necessarily apply to-
- No, sorry. - [Jamie] -premium.
- Or quality, 'cause you'd get excellent milk chocolate.
- [Barry] Sorry. - But yeah,
I know what you mean.
- The shape is probably the most novelty of them yet.
Does the shape put me off?
A little bit. - Why would it put you off?
You're dressed as a carrot.
- I don't dress as a carrot every day of the week, do I?
- You had an Easter egg sandwich a minute ago!
When you're looking at Easter eggs Baz,
do you tend to err on the side of novelty or quality?
- Depends on who it's for.
If it's for a kid,
then I would just the most bonkers-looking thing
I possibly can, and the quality doesn't matter.
But if you're buying for a friend or someone a bit older,
then I'd make sure that the quality's a little bit higher,
'cause they might not be so fussed about the novelty shape.
It feels like it's an idea
Jamie Spafford would've come up with.
- Ah, and I love an innuendo too.
I think "egg-plant"- - Exactly! I don't know why.
- [Ben] -Easter eggs. - I think it's quite nice,
and I think it's just a bit of fun.
- What about price, Barry? - Let's go like, £8.
- [Ben] Six quid. - [Barry] Ah yeah.
- He'd pay £8 for an aubergine,
but he'd only pay £5 for a sandwich.
(Jamie snickers)
- No, I was just trying to find,
I know where I am now, okay?
I was feeling my way around the sandwich.
- I really hope there's another novelty one for him later.
(pop rock music)
- [Barry] Right, Jamie, you're up.
Lift the cloche.
- Ohh! Tony's!
I really like their chocolate.
- What you've got there is two small things
from Tony's Chocolonely.
So you've got their mini-eggs,
12 eggs divided by seven flavours.
This carton is un-egg-qually divided, just like our bars.
They say the problem is
that things aren't being shared evenly
in the chocolate supply chain,
so why should our chocolate?
That's kind of Tony's mission that they have always been on,
is how do we make sure
that right the way through the chain,
everyone is getting what they deserve.
And the bar is lemon meringue;
meringue, another good use for eggs,
and if you open up the whole thing,
you can crack the egg free.
- One of the things I've always enjoyed about Tony's is
it feels like I'm unwrapping a Wonka bar.
It is a nostalgia of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory",
and it feels really special.
And then you look at that!
- I mean, their flavor's already pretty playful.
I've never heard of a chocolate that flavour.
- Lemon meringue chocolate bar.
- Little meringue pieces inside.
They're also chunky, chunky pieces.
- Who's getting lemon?
- It's almost a similar tang
to the ruby chocolate we had before,
that kind of berry, sharp tang.
Especially in the crunchy bits, if you get the white bits.
- The little crunchy meringue is really, really nice.
- So in the same way your dozen eggs are divided
into seven different flavours-
- Almond, honey nougat, milk chocolate, dark chocolate,
caramel sea salt, almond sea salt, hazelnut,
and pretzel toffee.
Egg? - What flavour?
Oh, I don't know... it'll be a guessing game.
- [Jamie] No idea. - No, these are all random.
- Oh yes!
A solid egg!
That's what you need. - I do love a solid egg.
- [Ben] And with all the texture.
- Oh my god! - Mm!
- So when you think about cocoa, there is a price,
there is a market global price for cocoa.
If you are then buying fair trade,
you pay a fair trade premium
to make sure that the growers get what they need.
Tony's then also pay a premium on top of that
'cause they still don't feel like fair trade's enough.
So they've always paid above and beyond
to support the farmers growing the cocoa.
- That's great. - That's really interesting.
Haven't they been in the news recently
for not doing some of that?
- They have hit some scrutiny in the press
because they've essentially been dropped
from the Slave-Free Chocolate list
because of their association
with a company that processes their bars.
So they are still claiming 100% of what they believe in,
but as they scale, their bars are now processed in factory,
and that factory belongs to a company that is associated.
And I also followed that up with a quote that says,
"The brand completely stands by its relationship
with Callebaut", which is the brand they're associated with,
"because that will trigger them to change from within."
- Okay, so working inside out rather... right.
- So it's worth saying Tony's deliberately chooses to work
in Ghana and the Ivory Coast
'cause that's where some of the worst problems are,
and that's where they can make the most positive impact.
In Ghana and the Ivory Coast,
1.56 million children work under illegal conditions,
and 30,000 people are victims of modern slavery.
- The whole thing's fascinating to me,
but if they can make that change
from inside the big corporation, great.
- Let's talk price.
How much? - I'm gonna go £4.50.
- [Ben] £3.98 from their own site.
What about the little box of mini-eggs?
- £8?
- [Ben] £4.50 from their own site.
- You're not just buying chocolate,
you're buying into the mission that they're on.
It is absolutely delicious,
and it's doing something really nice,
so yeah, I'm happy to pay that.
(midtempo rock music)
- Novelty, novelty. - [Ben] Last one.
Let's go out with a bang. - [Barry] Come on!
Oh yes!
That's a posh box.
- Doesn't look novelty, oh no! (Barry laughs)
- Dark Sugars chocolates.
- [Ben] This is Dark Sugars box of nutters.
Chopped, roasted pecan nuts,
chopped pistachios,
folded in pecan praline and enrolled in 85% dark chocolate
from the wonderful land of Cote d'Ivoire.
- Ebbers, is this an Easter egg?
'Cause this looks like a box of chocolates.
- It did make us wonder,
does Easter have to be all about eggs,
or can it just be about quality chocolate?
- I'm gonna have a milk chocolate first.
(Barry hums approvingly)
- And the reason this one caught our eye
is because of the fantastic story.
It's the story of one woman's journey
to tell the story of cocoa, from tree to tummy.
So Nyanga began her quest in Spitalfields Market
with two truffles and a lot of gumption.
Along the way, she met a man who loved cocoa
as much as she did, and together,
they set sail for Borough Market.
Many exciting years in Borough,
they packed up their truffles
and flew to South America and West Africa,
where she spent three years researching cocoa
on her family's farm.
And then eventually,
they brought all of that knowledge back to East London
where they have a store in Brick Lane.
- They're genuinely spectacular.
Smooth, silky inside,
crunchy praline, beautiful chocolate coating outside,
they're exquisite.
For grownups... love this for Easter,
and the thing I like about the experience,
you still get the theatre of unboxing.
I like it, and I wanna try more of their selection.
They've got some bonkers things here:
popping candy ones,
they've got little chocolate cups
with pipettes of random flavours as well.
They're really experimental good fun.
- That dark chocolate one was fantastic.
(bleep) has it got to do with Easter?
- Yeah, struggling with that.
- Has Easter just become
a huge commercialization opportunity for novelty,
or actually, could we dedicate 20% of our cloche lifting
to just quality, exquisite chocolate,
and people who have got an excellent backstory
and have actually put in the time to do the research,
spent three years in West Africa,
and are bringing back the knowledge
from their own cocoa farms.
- Way to make me feel like a (cluck).
(Barry laughs)
- But they're nice, right? - Absolutely adore those.
- 18 exquisite premium chocolates in that box.
- I reckon they're about,
probably a bit more than a pound a pop.
£25. - [Ben] That box is £36,
so they are £2 a chocolate.
- I wouldn't buy that for myself, but to a chocolate lover,
this will go a long way. - I know what you mean Baz,
'cause in my mind,
£36 is a lot of money for a box of chocolates.
But £36 for THAT box of chocolates isn't expensive
because of the quality, the time, the expertise,
and everything that's gone into making that.
- Tell you what, seeing where I started with this video...
I thought that egg sandwich was a fiver,
'cause in my head, that's what chocolate costs.
In going to this level, and going via Tony's on the way,
it's made me appreciate what goes into making chocolate
and how much it should cost.
I'm just used to spending far too little.
What a lovely gift, thank you so much.
This video's started with two dads
dressed as a cock and a carrot,
but look how far we've come.
See? What did I say earlier?
Novelty, but classy. (Ben and Jamie snicker)
- Which is our turn to hand over to you,
what did you think of our Easter treat episode?
And comment down below with which one was your favourite.
- And probably comment down below,
let us know who looked best in their costume,
the cock or the carrot? (Barry laughs)
That should be our pub name!
- [Jamie and Barry] The cock and the carrot!
(Jamie snickers)
- You're both very lucky 'cause you've got things covering
your terrible hair situation at the moment.
- What do you mean, terrible?
- I'm just stood here like a badger.
- Ebbers, you've had that haircut
for the 25 years (Barry chortles)
that I've known you.
- But I'm gonna blame lockdown!
(Jamie laughs)
- Time to put the next Lego hair on.
(boys laughing)