(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)
