Montezuma's kindly sent me a couple of their vegan Eco Easter eggs to put them through their paces. The chocolate has quite a sweet initial flavour, with a mellow smokiness that develops throughout the melt. There's a touch of tart red and golden fruit notes that develop in the middle, alongside a creaminess that softens the intensity (fear not, this Easter egg is actually vegan). It all leads towards a rich cocoa finish, that's intense but not overpowering. Despite this, there is little evidence of significant progress. There are still estimated to be about two million children working on cocoa farms in West Africa. There is particularly profound concern about it because it is such hazardous work; cocoa pods are split with machetes, toxic chemicals are used, and the children carry extremely heavy loads. Injuries are extremely common. Made with 41% single-origin Colombian cocoa that is ethically sourced, HiP also ensures positive effects in the local communities of the farmers. The first thing to notice when tasting this chocolate is how it absorbs all trace of moisture in your mouth. It's also quite bitter, although this seems to hit in waves.

The chocolate itself is very smooth, but once that has dissolved in your mouth you’re left with very tiny flakes of cocoa nib. Not too much, not too little, just enough to set this Easter treat apart from the rest. As much as we’d love to take credit for inventing the vegan Easter egg - vegan chocolate has actually been around for thousands of years. In fact, the chocolate that the Mayans and Aztecs were savouring at the height of their empires was exclusively dairy-free dark chocolate, so right from the start chocolate was vegan. Tell that to the next person who says that you’re “missing out” on “real” chocolate. Not until the late 19th century did milk chocolate arrive on the scene. And if you’ve been subjected to one of those super-sweet, cloying and additive-filled bars that sit next to the crisps in the corner shop, you’ll know that the Mayans and the Aztecs had the right idea about what makes good chocolate. Why do we eat chocolate eggs at Easter? Not only do Nestle and Mondelez score poorly on our table, they also received our worst rating for their management of workers' rights in its cocoa supply chain. Plus they both get our worst rating for palm oil. We would recommend avoiding their brands: Cons:Made on equipment which processes milk, soy, gluten, peanuts and other nuts | no mention of carbon offsettingTo cut a long story short - which if you’ve just reached this sentence may rankle rather - we’ve got you covered, vegans! You too can enjoy your Easter egg; you too shall relish the opportunity to offer a gift to a fellow connoisseur of plant-based confectionery. Using rice milk instead of milk and coconut oil instead of palm oil (which is environmentally unsustainable), we were able to produce a 24% dark chocolate bar that was so creamy and smooth that it’s almost impossible to believe that no cows were involved at any point in production. Since eating eggs traditionally was not allowed during Holy Week (the week leading up to Easter), those that were laid were decorated and given to children as gifts. The Victorians added the idea of wrapping up boxes filled with small treats and gifts and then at some point some bright spark saw an opportunity to replace eggs (which not everyone likes) with chocolate (which everyone loves). Hey presto! The gift of a chocolate Easter egg was born, and with it the ritual of chipping a segment off the chocolate shell, tipping out the buttons, and finding somewhere quiet where you can secretly gorge on chocolatey goodness. And as we’ve now established, this is not an exclusive privilege for the milk chocolate brigade - in fact, dark chocolate vegan Easter eggs would have been around before milk chocolate. Our Milk Chocolate Alternative Range

As all the contents are made from either recycled board or home compostable film, this is certainly one treat you can give to the kids with a clear conscience.Cons:contains hazelnuts, peanuts, soya and pecans | May contain nuts, peanuts, milk, gluten, wheat, egg, sesame Instead, we burst onto the scene with our Like No Udder range – our vegan milk chocolate without milk! Hands down, this chocolate will test your limits, for sure. For me, it's right up there at the extremes of what I enjoy. It's more palatable than some other 100% chocolates I have tasted, but I can only enjoy tiny bites, little and often (which is perhaps why it's a hit with dieters?).