Ingredient Information

 

Hand-Selected Ingredients

Every distinct element is essential to the quality of our chocolates, transforming the ordinary into something truly extraordinary.

Hand-selecting each of our ingredients is the crucial first step to achieving the extraordinary, and we begin by building lasting and transparent relationships with our growers, producers, and suppliers. We use only premium chocolate made from superior grade cocoa beans for our confections. Many of our products are certified Organic and Fairtrade, and we source local ingredients whenever possible.

Cream & Butter

Produced from local organic farms, fresh cream and butter offer a subtle flavor that adds richness and depth to our confections.

Vanilla Bean

The creamy, velvety flavor of our organic Madagascar vanilla bean perfectly complements the taste of rich, premium chocolate.

Single Malt Whiskey

With deep flavor and a remarkably smooth finish, McCarthy's Oregon Single Malt Whiskey from Clear Creek Distillery in Portland is an excellent complement to our dark chocolate.

Coffee

Locally roasted by Olympia Coffee, our organic espresso is blended for flavors of sweet chocolate, dense fruit, and a long clean finish.

Tea

Oolong tea grown high in the mountains of Taiwan and blended by Tealeaves in Vancouver, BC creates exceptional flavor when steeped into our premium chocolate.

Peppermint

Locally grown peppermint from Washington's Yakima Valley is infused into our dark chocolate for a delicate balance of flavors.

Gray Salt

Harvested off the coast of Brittany, France, sel gris (gray sea salt) is high in mineral content and has a natural, pearlescent shimmer. The distinct flavor uniquely complements our dark chocolate caramels and thins.

Smoked Salt

Smoked over oak, Welsh sea salt develops a reduced salinity that pairs beautifully with our milk chocolate caramels and thins.


Ethical Sourcing

As an Organic and Fairtrade partner, Fran’s Chocolates has been dedicated to high ethical, social, and environmental standards since opening in 1982. We build lasting and transparent relationships with our suppliers and source certified Organic and Fairtrade ingredients whenever possible. In 2016, we began formalizing our long-held commitment to ethical sourcing through USDA Organic and FLOCERT Fairtrade certifications. These certifications support ethical and sustainable agricultural and business practices, providing environmental and financial benefits to farmers and suppliers.

Certified Organic

We source local and organic ingredients whenever possible. Some of the organic ingredients we use are sugar, cream, butter, tapioca syrup, coffee, lemon juice, ginger, hazelnuts, almonds, and macadamia nuts.

We work closely with Oregon Tilth and are pleased to announce that many of our products are Organic certified:

Salted Caramels (Gray & Smoked Salt, Gray Salt, Smoked Salt); Classic & Salted Caramels; Classic Caramels (Dark, Milk); Dark & Milk Nuts & Caramels; Gold Bars (AlmondMacadamiaPark); Almond GoldBitesDark Hot Chocolate; Dessert Sauces (Dark ChocolateCaramelRaspberry); Peanut Butter Cups (DarkMilkMixed); Almond Trios (Dark, Milk, Mixed); Hazelnut Trios (Dark, Milk, Mixed); Tas de Noix (Dark, Milk, Mixed); Hazelnut Diamonds (Dark, Milk, White, Mixed); Chocolate Thins (Gray SaltSmoked SaltMint68% Madagascar Wrapped); Chocolate Pure Bars (Deep Milk66% Fran's Blend68% Dominican Republic68% Madagascar); Chocolate Covered GingerDark Caramel Hearts; and seasonal chocolate molded items, like solid Bunnies, 3pc Caramel Chicks, and 4pc Peanut Butter Eggs.

Certified Fairtrade

Throughout our nearly 40 years of handcrafting artisan confections, we have been dedicated to partnering with producers who have strong ethical, social, and environmental standards. To allow us to formalize this long-held commitment, we have begun the process of pursuing Fairtrade certification.

We work closely with Fairtrade America in these efforts and are pleased to announce that many of our products are Faritrade certified:

Salted Caramels (Gray & Smoked SaltGray SaltSmoked Salt); Classic & Salted Caramels; Classic Caramels (DarkMilk); Dark & Milk Nuts & Caramels; Gold Bars (AlmondMacadamiaPark); Almond GoldBitesDark Hot Chocolate; Dessert Sauces (Dark ChocolateCaramelRaspberry); Peanut Butter Cups (DarkMilkMixed); Chocolate Thins (Gray SaltSmoked Salt); Chocolate Pure Bars (Deep Milk66% Fran's Blend68% Dominican Republic); and seasonal chocolate molded items, like solid Bunnies and Peanut Butter Eggs.

Vegan

We offer many confections made with plant-based ingredients.

See our full list here: Fran's Plant-Based Collection

A more detailed list includes:

Dark Almond TriosDark Hazelnut DiamondsChocolate Covered ApricotsPressed FigsChocolate Covered GingerOrange ConfitSpiced Macadamia NutsAlmonds in Dark ChocolateCaramelized Nuts & NibsNibbits in Dark ChocolateCaramelized Pumpkin SeedsRaspberry Dessert SauceDark Hot Chocolate (when prepared with water)Dark Chocolate Baking Bars (Fran’s Blend, Semisweet, Bittersweet)Pure Bars (Fran’s Blend, Crunch, Bittersweet, 68% Dominican Republic, 68% Madagascar)Chocolate Thins (Fran’s Blend, Gray Salt, Mint, Dark Chocolate); and seasonal dark chocolate molded items, like Santas, solid Hearts, Bunnies, Pumpkins, and Turkeys.

Non-GMO

We do not source GMO ingredients.


Allergen Information

We are happy to provide you with as much information as you and your doctor may need to make an informed decision. We do not want to deprive anyone of our confections unnecessarily! Please call us at 206.322.0233 for a complete ingredient list and answers to any questions you may have.

Soy

The majority of our chocolates contain sunflower lecithin. At this time, the Bittersweet Pure Bar is our only product that contains soy lecithin.

Gluten

We do not use any gluten-containing ingredients in our confections.

Milk & Eggs

Our truffles and caramels contain dairy in the form of butter, milk, and cream. Our solid milk and white chocolates contain milk. None of our confections contain eggs. For non-dairy options, please see above for a list of our vegan confections.

Nuts

We process macadamias, almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, pecans, peanuts, pistachios, and coconut in our facility. We take pride in the cleanliness of our production facility, but it is possible our confections may contain traces of these nuts.