Our 20 favorite brands of chocolate

Baker’s Chocolate isn’t a household name, which is surprising, because it is the oldest chocolate brand in the United States. Founded in Massachusetts in the 1760s by John Hannon and Dr. James Baker, the company was sold to Dr. Baker by Hannon’s wife after her husband vanished on a sailing trip to buy cocoa beans in the West Indies in 1779. Although best known for chocolate bars for baking and its coconut products, Baker’s is also credited for inventing the recipe for German chocolate cake. Contrary to popular belief, this is not a German dessert, but one concocted by an American, a Baker’s employee named Samuel German.

Americans know Cadbury best for its Creme Eggs and Caramel Eggs that are ubiquitous during the Easter holiday season, but for those in the U.K. and Europe, Cadbury has been a year-round dessert staple since 1824 with its Dairy Milk, Curly Wurly, and other bars and bite-sized snacks. The Creme Eggs are still the most popular product, with some 200 million sold in the U.K. alone between New Year’s Day and Easter.

There are a lot of different and delicious Belgian chocolate brands out there, but actually locating them would require a trip to a specialty store or, you know, Belgium. However, Côte d'Or was purchased by the American multinational company Kraft in 1990 (and later spun off into Mondelez International), so the 135-year-old brand can now be found across the U.S. As for back in Belgium, locals there consume 600 million Côte d'Or products every year.

Dove chocolates were around for nearly 50 years before the Chicago-based company was bought by Mars, Inc. (more on them later). Despite the acquisition, the brand’s chocolate bars, squares, and ice cream bars have retained their smooth, signature taste and are even popular in the U.K. under the Galaxy brand. And, in case you were wondering, the Dove candy and Dove soap brands are entirely different companies.

One of the best chocolate companies in Belgium and the producer of arguably the best chocolate truffles in the world, Duc d’O deserves a prominent place on this list. (But it’s alphabetical, so they get this place.) Part of the magic of Duc d’Or is that no two truffles are exactly alike, as each one is coated in high-quality Belgian chocolate shavings in their own unique way.

Endangered makes some delicious chocolate, which is available in varieties like raspberry, caramel & sea salt, coconut & almond, extreme dark, and fudgy peanut butter. However, they’re also one of our favorite brands because of their dedication, as the name suggests, to protecting endangered species — 10% of net profits are donated to impactful organizations and initiatives!

In order to save money on chocolate, Italian chocolatier Pietro Ferrero began adding hazelnuts to his treats, which led to the creation of the now famous, gold-wrapped Ferrero Rocher truffles. Additionally, the 72-year-old company produces Kinder products and Nutella spreads, among other creations, and even owns Tic Tac.

For more than 30 years, Fran’s Chocolates has been turning out ganache-filled truffles and chocolate-covered fruits and nuts, as well as other offerings like smoked salted caramels and coconut gold bars. Made in Washington but available around the world, Fran’s has many fans, including former President Barack Obama.

Although Ghirardelli is one of the hardest brands to spell, it’s also one of the most tasty. Incorporated in 1852, Ghirardelli is the third-oldest chocolate company in the U.S. and is best known for its chocolate bars, squares, sauces, and beverages. To visitors of Disney parks, the company is also famous for slinging some of the sweetest sundaes around.

Godiva is synonymous with fancy chocolate, and for good reason. The Belgian brand has been crafting chocolates and packaging them in its signature gold boxes since 1926, not to mention its line of coffees, shakes, dipped treats, and liqueurs. Although owned by the Campbell Soup Company for four decades, Godiva was sold to the Turkish company Yildiz Holding in 2007.

Guylian gets credit for being among the most aesthetically pleasing chocolates in the world, as their treats take on the form of imaginative shapes like seashells, hearts, and seahorses. Of course, this Belgian brand only uses the highest quality chocolate, which they’ve been doing consistently since 1958. Although Guylian is now owned by Lotte Confectionery, which is based in South Korea, all chocolate production still takes place in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. 

Europeans may thumb their noses at this American brand, but the 123-year-old Hershey Company isn’t going anywhere. After all, its product offerings don’t just include the iconic chocolate bars and kisses, but also Reese’s cups and pieces, Almond Joys, Mounds, Whoppers, York Peppermint Patties, Rolos, Heath bars, Krackel, and Mr. Goodbar... and that’s without mentioning the non-chocolate candies (such as Twizzlers, Jolly Ranchers, and numerous brands of gum) and products made by other companies, which Hershey is licensed to distribute.

To clear up any confusion: Lindt & Sprüngli (better known as Lindt) is the chocolate company, Lindor are the round chocolate truffles made by Lindt in varieties like milk, dark, and white chocolate, as well as coconut, caramel, peanut butter, and hazelnut, among others. The Swiss company, which was founded in 1845, also makes mouth-watering bars, bunnies, liqueurs, and ice cream.

Chocolate-covered ice cream bars were once seen solely as snacks for kids, so the quality of the ingredients was somewhat irrelevant. But numerous brands now market their products towards dessert-loving adults like us and have raised the bar — no pun intended. No one has done it better than Magnum, with their line of bars featuring high-quality Belgian chocolate and creamy ice cream, as well as occasional additional fillings like caramel and raspberry.

Mars is the sixth-largest privately owned company in the world, mostly thanks to the success of its products like 3 Musketeers, M&M’s, Milky Way, Snickers, Twix, and Mars bars, in addition to numerous gum brands (including all Wrigley offerings) and other candies like Skittles and Starburst. We’ll admit that Mars doesn’t turn out chocolate of the highest quality, but we’ll also admit to eating at least one of the aforementioned candies in the last week. Emphasis on “at least.”

Although invented in Switzerland in 1901, the Milka brand has been produced in Germany for the last century, and currently manufactures 140,000 tons of chocolate every year. Recognizable for its trademark purple cow, Milka had gone through several acquisitions in the last 100 years, and is now owned by Mondelez International.

The crispy Nestle Crunch bar is probably the most famous offering of the 152-year-old Nestle company, but it also produces 8,000 other brands, including Butterfinger, Kit Kat (outside the U.S.), Nesquik, Oh Henry!, and Toll House cookies and chocolate chips, in addition to sweets from its Wonka offshoot. 

Russell Stover has an interesting role in the candy and chocolate world. The general public pretty much only thinks about the 95-year-old company around Valentine’s Day, and even then, they don’t rank highly on the totem pole of candy quality. Although the average person probably wouldn’t buy a box of Russell Stover chocolate for themselves, they likely wouldn’t hesitate to polish off an entire container of the assorted truffles in a single sitting – especially if the box is heart-shaped. Also on the plus side, the company (owned by Lindt since 2014) invented the Eskimo Pie!

Sure, the Toblerone brand has been owned by the multinational Mondelez International confectionery company since 1990, but having been invented in Switzerland in 1908, the triangular chocolate bars had already made quite a name for themselves. People often wonder what exactly goes into a Toblerone to make it so tasty, and the answer is nougat made from sugar, honey and almonds. In fact, the name “Toblerone” is actually a portmanteau of creator Theodor Tobler’s name and the Italian word torrone, which is a type of nougat.

Although Whitman’s set the standard in so-called “sampler” boxes of chocolates more than 100 years ago, they have actually been owned by Russell Stover for the last 25, and, as a result of the aforementioned acquisition, Lindt for the last four. However, the company’s history actually stretches all the way back to 1842, when 19-year-old Stephen F. Whitman opened his “confectionery and fruiterer shoppe” on the Philadelphia waterfront.