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Originally posted by harry

Any info on the what a good price should be for a 100g bar of the Cru Sauvage should be? Also i be interested to hear what sort of price those who have tried it would price it at when compared to other great bars.

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The best prices will be if you buy instead in bulk format, e.g. Chocosphere at $62.50 for 2 kg. (works out to $3.12 for 100g). The bars do, however, have nice visual appeal and might be better tempered (the one I got was almost immaculate), with the additional benefit of a more convenient eating format. The price, however, is certainly as you will have seen much more.

But as for prices compared to “other great bars” I think the problem here is that it’s too relative to do that sort of thing. For instance, it could be argued that a limited-edition once-off can command higher prices than a regular stocking item. And a small-volume manufacturer would be within his rights to charge more than a large industrial supplier simply because his fixed costs on a per-unit basis are so much higher. Yes, quality is important and in principle should be the primary price determinant, but it’s not quite that simple, and when you get to the upper end of the range then size of the price jump is large while any improvement in quality might be small (or negative).
In the broadest of terms, I tend to think of about a £25/100g upper limit on price, considering all factors, for an arbitrary great chocolate, but on the whole I’d probably expect the “great” chocolate market to average out at about £10/100g.

I think that a rating is a better, although still not absolute, metric of quality overall. Using the SeventyPercent ratings system, an aggregate of 7 or more is what I think of as the dividing line between “quality” and “commodity” chocolate. Above that, a 7.5 is OK but with clear problems, an 8 is good but not great, a level that any reasonable chocolatier should be able to reach consistently, an 8.5 is excellent and with many fine characteristics, an 8.7 or 8.8 is marginally great, undeniably superb but perhaps with hints that it might be improved, and a 9 or above is unqualified great. I’d say *any* chocolate rated 9 or above would in my mind justify any price up to that absolute ceiling of £25, if the conditions were right. So in the case of Cru Sauvage, you can see that my recommendation would be to buy it and not quibble overmuch about the price.

Alex Rast
Alex_Rast_Alternate@hushmail.com

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Originally posted by ellie

I’m still trying to work out if Swiss Sprungli Cru Sauvage Bolivien origin is in fact produced by Felchlin. Few of my friends from Switzerland were unable to find the Felchlin for me, and once the call placed to the Felchlin had a reply that they distribute the chocolate in Europe only to other producers, and do not sell under their own name (although I’ve got it through a chain of secretaries).

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For what it’s worth, Demarquette in London now sells Cru Sauvage. So if your interest is in retail quantities you could go to him, or if your interest is in wholesale quantities for business, then you might inquire of him and see if he can steer you in the right direction.

Also for those interested, Demarquette is also producing a ganache chocolate based on it. I like the density and texture: Demarquette is clearly using a higher chocolate ratio than most of the other London chocolatiers, which makes both for a refreshing change and greater chocolate impact. The ganache chocolate itself I thought was very good, although it perhaps lost a little to the basic bar itself; I think that’s the result of cream addition to what is from the start a mild flavour. I also sensed that perhaps in a perfect world it might have been ever so slightly fresher. But I emphasize that these are quibbles in what was a superb chocolate overall. Definitely try it.

Alex Rast
Alex_Rast_Alternate@hushmail.com