Chocolate might be loved universally. However, it's more than just a treat for me. It has helped me get through some really tough times. I've pretty much tried every brand under the sun and personally resonate with the ones from Great Britain.
Check out my list of the Top British Chocolate Brands for all the details.
Putting aside my crazy obsession, chocolate is greatly beneficial to health. Not only is it loaded with antioxidants but it is also known to reduce stress by secreting serotonin - the happiness hormone. However, this must-have food is extremely profound when it comes to taste and texture.
Not all the chocolates in the UK are amazing. So, we've compiled a list of the Top British Chocolate Brands.
What is the most popular chocolate brand in the UK?
The most popular chocolate brand in the UK would have to be Cadbury's Dairy Milk. Although there have been years when other chocolate brands like Snickers have taken the crown, there has never been a brand that has dominated the market for over a century.
Not only does it have a creamy smooth texture but this milk chocolate also tastes absolutely wonderful. With multiple variants, Cadbury's Dairy Milk line of chocolates has continued to be the crowd favourite even when amazing chocolate brands have appeared over the years. Check out Top British Chocolate Brands for specific brands.
After taste-testing close to 200 chocolate brands both well-known and obscure, we zeroed in the top twelve brands that we thought really stood out. These brands had an overwhelming history, texture, aroma and most importantly taste. After taking a few more factors like sourcing of raw materials, we found that:
The Top British Chocolate Brand is Cadbury's Dairy Milk. From the time it was introduced in the UK in 1905, Diary Milk has continued to be a crowd favorite. This milk chocolate bar has continued to maintain the same smooth creamy texture and the rich taste for more than a century.
| Top British Chocolate Brands | Price | Best Rated Product |
| Cadbury Dairy Milk | £2.71 | Flake, Fruit & Nut, Silk |
| Maltesers | £6.29 | Maltesers Chocolate Bar |
| Aphrodite Choclates | £7 - £40 | Chocolate Gift Box |
| Montezuma’s | £21.18 | Giant Buttons |
| Buchanan's Chocolates | £3.49 | Peppermint Creams |
| House of Dorchester | £8.26 | Luxury Chocolate Bar |
| Galaxy | £8.69 | Smooth Milk, Salted Caramel, Smooth Caramel |
| Thorntons | £15.99 | Classic Milk Collection |
| Duffy's Chocolates | £3 - £70+ | Milk Chocolate Bar, Dark Chocolate Bar |
| Double Decker | £5.69 | Double Decker 9-pack |
| Twirl | £10.00 | Pack of 10 |
| Charbonnel & Walker | £18+ | Pink Champagne Truffles |
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Top British Chocolate Brands
#1 -- Cadbury Dairy Milk
Cadbury Dairy Milk is one of the oldest and Top British Chocolate Brands. This brand of milk chocolate was manufactured by Cadbury for the first time in 1905 and has since continued to dominate the chocolate space in the UK. In fact, it was officially crowned the best-selling chocolate bar in 2014.
- I've been eating this bar since I was a kid and there's always a bar behind my grandmom's cookie jar. Be it texture or taste it definitely is one of the best chocolate bars in Great Britain.
- The Dairy Milk line of chocolate bars is exclusively made with milk chocolate. This chocolate bar is famous for its rich smooth creamy texture with virtually no bitter after taste. Popular variants include Caramel, Fruit & Nut, Whole Nut, Ritz and Silk.
Cadbury has also incorporated some ethical practices as it is made with Fairtrade cocoa and sugar. So, you can enjoy this chocolate while knowing that a farmer out there wasn't taken advantage of.
#2 -- Maltesers
Famous chocolate company Mars was the brainchild behind the Maltesers brand of chocolates. These delicious pearls-shaped chocolates were originally sold in the UK in 1937 as were originally targeted at women due to its airy nature.
- Not only was it light but the taste was also quite addictive. So, It wasn't surprising for these crispy chocolate spheres to become one of the UK's biggest legacy brands.
- Although the packaging has changed over the years, it has amazingly maintained the taste and the attention to quality. Maltesers consist of a crispy centre enchased in sphere-like malted chocolate.
The honey crisp center makes it airy and light while the smooth milk exterior urges you to spoil yourself without the guilt.
#3 -- Aphrodite Chocolates
Aphrodite Chocolates, a family-run business, was founded in 1997. Since then, they have specialized in creating the best of luxury handmade chocolates. The heart of their original workshop is located in Derbyshire, England countryside and each chocolate creation is handmade to meet stringent quality requirements as specified by European Union law.
- They use no added sugars or oils in their pops and only the most natural of ingredients. This is one of the main reasons why their chocolates taste so good.
- Aphrodite chocolates ships worldwide and they have something for every occasion, from birthdays to anniversaries and commiserations, this brand certainly has something for everyone.
Aphrodite Chocolates currently offers a wide variety of collections with some of their most popular items being, original & unusual chocolates, presentation boxes filled with small selections of chocolates, chocolate covered dried fruits filled with spiced rum mousse and more.
#4 -- Montezuma’s
Montezuma's chocolate brand has become a household name in the past two decades. This family-owned chocolate company is famous for it's innovative and high-end chocolates in the UK.
- Montezuma's began when lawyers Helen and Simon travelled to South America and spent a night a cocoa plantation. In 2000, the couple opened up their first shop in Brighton and handcrafted their famous chocolate.
- This chocolate brand has aligned itself with fairtrade policies, making sure all their raw materials like cocoa is sourced ethically. In fact, this is one of the things that this brand is famous for.
As the years passed their reputation for producing some of the finest chocolate gradually spread through the country. Montezuma is known for their chocolate bard, truffles, fruits and drinking chocolate.
#5 -- Buchanan’s Chocolates
Buchanan’s, also known as the Confectionery Clan is the oldest British chocolate brand on this list and probably one of the most famous with well over 100 years experience in the field. They have produced over 50 brand lines from a single factory, the Golden Casket factory in Greenock.
- Buchanan’s is available in jars, bags and there are a few from their range that come in 1kg bags. They offer over 42 different flavors of toffees, liquorice, mints, jelly beans, humbugs, assorted creams and caramels.
- Their toffees are soft on the inside and chewy on the outside. With some of the finest chocolate used to prepare these masterpieces.
Their rich treacle toffee and chocolate peppermint creams are the biggest crowd pleaser. They taste amazing and leave you craving more.
#6 -- House of Dorchester
The House of Dorchester is one of the few chocolate brands in the UK that are known purely for their artisan chocolates. So much so that they have been supplying 5-star hotels in Great Britain since 1963.
- The chocolates are crafted at the company's factory on the Duchy of Cornwall's Poundbury Estate in Dorset. It is hands down one of the Top British Chocolate Brands.
- This award-winning chocolate brand is famous for its chocolate bars and truffles.
While the title "Luxury Chocolates" has been beaten to death by every has-been brand, the chocolates from the House of Dorchester are downright decadent.
#7 -- Galaxy
Galaxy is another chocolate bar brand that is manufactured by Mar, incorporated. This unique chocolate bar was first manufactured in the UK 1960s and has since spread to various other countries. It is the second best selling chocolate bar after Cadbury Dairy Milk.
- While the original Galaxy bar is the most famous it does have huge range variants that include cookie crumble, milk chocolate, caramel, minstrels, ripple and fruit and nut. Latest inclusions include Bubbles, Duetto and Amicelli.
- Although I personally find Galaxy a little too sticky for comfort, my niece loves this chocolate to death.
Unlike Dairy Milk, Galaxy Bars are more unique as the manufacturers have blended dark chocolate with milk while eliminating the bitterness and enhancing the smooth creamy texture and sweetness.
#8 -- Thorntons
Thortons is one of the most famous chocolate brands on the High Street in Great Britain. This premier chocolate company has been crafting world-class artisan chocolates for over 100 years.
- It was initially started by Joseph Thornton in 1911 and what started off as a humble shop in Sheffield was acquired by Ferrero in 2015.
- You can find these chocolates clad with a Union Jack Packaging at every luxury store and even on Amazon UK.
Thortons is famous for its sweet treats like Violet Cachous and Phul-Nanas
#9 -- Duffy's
Duffy's is an all English chocolate brand that's based in Lincolnshire, UK that has been manufacturing high quality premium chocolates since 2010. They are a small scale producer that sources only raw beans which are then sorted by hand and only the best are carefully roasted to provide a unique natural flavoring to their chocolates.
- Their chocolate making process takes a grueling 4 days because everything here is done by hand and will be just the right amount to make just around 300 Duffy's chocolate bars.
- Duffy's offers a wide range of chocolate bars including a variety of flavors such as milk, dark, dark milk and flavored bars. They even have a selection of chocolate drinks and gift hampers of assorted chocolates that you can pick up from their website.
Subscribing to their website guarantees free delivery within the UK. The brand also delivers internationally, but the delivery time will vary based on the quantity you order.
#10 -- Double Decker
Double Decker is another British chocolate bar brand that is manufactured by Cadbury. Derived from the double-decker bus this chocolate bar was first introduced in the UK in 1976. It's one of the Top British Chocolate Brands.
- This chocolate bar is a unique blend of nougat, crispy cereal and milk chocolate. The milk chocolate layer really brings everything together a elevates the taste of this chocolate bar.
As the name suggests this chocolate bar has two layers: the top layer is the nougat layer and the bottom later is made of crispy cereal.
#11 -- Twirl
Twirl is yet another chocolate bar from Cadbury that is extremely popular in the UK. Since it initially hit the market as a single bar in the 1970s, it has continued to dominate the chocolate space.
- In the 1980s, Cadbury decided to change their packaging and re-introduced the twirl as a twin bar like the popular Twix. However, when it comes to the taste and texture the Twirl is vastly different from its competition.
The filling of the Twirl is extremely similar to the Cadbury Flake. It would be more accurate to call this chocolate a Cadbury flake encased in a milk chocolate layer. The combination of the flakey filling and thick chocolate shell makes this chocolate taste quite divine.
#12 -- Charbonnel & Walker
Charbonnel & Walker is one of the oldest Chocolate brands in Great Britain. There are known for their fine chocolate, confectionary and truffles. In fact, their renowned dark chocolates are made from the most delectable and finest dark couverture. It's one of the Top British Chocolate Brands 2022.
- This chocolate brand was founded in 1875 at Bond Street where it has remained even till today. The brand was a collaboration between Mrs Walker and Mme Charbonnel. Most importantly, this brand was founded with support from then Prince of Wales, Edward VII.
- The amazing chocolate is handmade using the traditional recipes of Madame Charbonnel herself. The requisite collection of chocolates are so delicious that the brand has a Royal Warrant.
What are the health benefits of chocolate bars?
Eating a chocolate bar regularly is actually beneficial to your health. In fact the cacao that is used to make chocolate bars is rich in antioxidants and has some additional health benefits.
- Anti-inflammatory properties
- Lowers blood pressure
- Boosts the immune system
- Improves cardio-vascular health
- High in antioxidats
- Helps release dopamine
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