Allo Simonne – Hazelnut & Dark Chocolate Spread

A few months ago I ordered a gift box from Café Hubert Saint-Jean as part of a job that I will not further discuss. One of the goodies inside the box was the utterly spectacular hazelnut and dark chocolate spread from Allo Simonne. I have always been a fan of Nutella, but this is so much better, and palm oil free! The ingredient list is: hazelnuts, cane sugar, 100% zorzal chocolate, cocoa powder, vanilla bean, & sea salt. I can fully get behind these ingredients. Compare these to Nutella’s ingredients: SUGAR, MODIFIED PALM OIL, HAZELNUTS, SKIM MILK POWDER, COCOA, SOY AND/OR SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, VANILLIN. To be fair, Nutella is a milk-chocolate product whereas this is dark chocolate, but as I previously said: this is so much better!

It looks like the new jars say 54% hazelnuts, whereas mine says 56%. I’m not sure if this is a new recipe or a labeling mistake. The sea salt is from Newfoundland, the chocolate is processed by Monarque, and the spreads are made in Montreal, making this a sweet Canadian alternative. My only gripe is with the price at $14 per 220g jar. But honestly, it’s worth it. Next time I’m in Montreal I’ll have to pack some in my suitcase.