Who Makes Trader Joe's Pound Plus Chocolate Bars? The Rumors Point To A High-End Chocolate Company

Trader Joe's is well-known for their in-house products, many of which are made by premium manufacturers specifically for the brand. Trader Joe's Pound Plus bars (which outperformed both Ghirardelli and Lindt in a Tasting Table ranking) are no exception, as the brand's website states, "our supplier is a well-known artisan confectioner in a small-town just outside of Antwerp, Belgium." However, Trader Joe's does not state who this confectioner is, leading many people to speculate. The most commonly accepted theory is that the chocolate is made by Callebaut.

Callebaut is a chocolatier based in Belgium, which fits the description from Trader Joe's website. The rumor that it makes the Pound Plus bars is brought up in several Reddit threads and has circulated the internet for a long time, as there are mentions of it on LiveJournal all the way back in 2011. There is some compelling evidence, of course; Callebaut specifically mentions being based in the small town of Wieze, which is less than an hour outside of Antwerp, the city mentioned in the Pound Plus bars' description. In addition, Callebaut offers lots of bulk chocolate products on its site, and the Pound Plus bars are famous for being over a pound, hence their name.

In addition to the location given by Trader Joe's, the ingredients and taste also line up between the Pound Plus bars and Callebaut products. For instance, Callebaut's milk chocolate bar claims it contains at least 31 percent dry cocoa solids, while Trader Joe's says its milk chocolate contains 33 percent cocoa solids, which is just above the minimum given by Callebaut. Both sites also specifically point out the creaminess of their chocolate bars (though this is a common bragging point for chocolate and may just be a coincidence). Another circumstantial piece of evidence is that Trader Joe's once sold Ruby Cacao Wafers, and Barry Callebaut, the parent company of Callebaut, invented ruby chocolate.

Even if Trader Joe's chocolate is not produced by Callebaut, the Pound Plus bars are a convincing dupe for the chocolatier's products. A Reddit user claimed to have done a side-by-side taste test of Callebaut's baking chocolate and Trader Joe's dark chocolate Pound Plus bars and tasted no difference, a claim backed up by another user on a different thread. Another company sometimes brought up as a contender for Trader Joe's suppliers is Guittard, but that company was created in California by a Frenchman and therefore has no connection to Belgium like Callebaut does. Regardless, the Trader Joe's Pound Plus bars are a high-quality, beloved product that works well for eating on its own or incorporating into recipes, such as creating a delicious chocolate spread for crackers and toast.