Chocolate Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

If you have a sweet tooth, chances are chocolate brands are high on your snack radar. And if you agree that chocolate might as well be the eighth wonder of the world, keep reading. Per Insider, the chocolate industry is a more than $100 billion business, and to keep that business alive requires a lot of cocoa beans. According to the National Confectioners Association, it takes 400 cocoa beans to make just one pound of chocolate — and a cacao tree will, on average, produce some 2,500 beans a year, or about six pounds of chocolate. To put this into context, for Valentine's Day alone, an estimated 58 million pounds of chocolate are sold every year (via Good Housekeeping).

As for chocolate makers, as with any food product, some brands are killing it in this space, while others aren't quite living up to the hype. Our Tasting Table taste testers hit the ground running to round up 20 chocolate brands with the end goal of ranking them from worst to best. As self-proclaimed chocolate fanatics, we found so many good ones, it  was truly a challenge to organize them for this listicle. But we did, so grab a glass of milk, a cup of tea, or whatever beverage fits your fancy (and pairs with chocolate, of course), and get ready for some serious deliciousness.

Next on our list is family-crafted and New Zealand-based Whittaker's Chocolate. Whittaker's sources its beans from Ghana, which once harvested, take some 80 days to journey from West Africa to Porirua; there, the chocolate maker batch-roasts the beans itself. Whittaker's main focus is making palm oil-free chocolate, and we appreciate knowing the chocolate we are consuming has quality ingredients and was crafted responsibly. Making chocolate is neither a simple task nor one that should be rushed. Whittaker's takes every precaution to ensure a high-quality and delicious chocolate result every time.

Like most things, though, high-quality chocolate does not come cheap. Whittaker's is known for being a high-end candy brand, one that's often imported — another reason why it costs more to purchase. With this being said, the taste is worth the price if you are able to swing it. The only reason Whittaker's landed lower on our list is due to the price to ship for consumers outside of Australia or New Zealand.

Russell Stover has been an American favorite since 1923. It's known for its assorted chocolate boxes that grow in popularity around the holidays, like Valentine's Day, as they make easy gifts that anyone will enjoy. The fun of receiving one of these boxes is guessing what filling each chocolate contains. The most common fillings are sweet creams, like vanilla or raspberry, chewy caramels, nougats, and crunchy nut clusters covered in rich milk or dark chocolate.

Overall, we feel like Russell Stover is just OK. The fillings are a little too sweet, in our opinion, and are covered by a thin layer of chocolate. Additionally, the flavors taste a bit artificial; however, we can not seem to stop eating them once we get started. This brand does not scream luxury chocolates, but they are still a welcomed gift. One thing we can appreciate about Russel Stover is its extensive product offerings, including a wide range of sugar-free chocolate options. We have not tried these yet, but we are intrigued.

Our next chocolate brand, Dove, is an American chocolate brand that first got its start in 1939 Chicago, with its signature ice cream bar, the Dove Bar, debuting in 1956. Today, the brand offers a large range of chocolates, candies, and ice creams (bars and pints). Dove's packaging and branding give off a sexy, desirable feel, making you want to indulge in its silky-smooth chocolate products.

The individually wrapped Dove Promises Collection comes in milk or dark chocolate, and each bite comes with a quote inside the foil wrapping. This is a nice personal touch that feels more elevated and inspiring than, say, a fortune cookie note.

Dove's marketing certainly gives off a luxurious feel, so we set high expectations in our chocolate taste test. Our opinion? The brand lives up to the hype; it's not overly sweet and tastes smooth, just as the wrapper states. These individual chocolates and bars have a melt-in-your-mouth consistency. One bite, and you are transported to a milk or dark chocolate paradise.

Duc d'O was founded in 1983 by Hendrik Verhelst, a former timber merchant. If you are looking for Belgian chocolate made with the finest ingredients, look no further than Duc d'O. Duc d'O today offers an assortment of exquisite chocolates like flaked truffles, assorted pralines, mousse tablets, and seashells. The company focused on chocolate truffles during its founding, though, so we headed straight for the truffles.

As part of our taste test, we tried the Flaked Truffles and learned no two Duc d'O truffles are alike. This is due to the company's chocolate creation process. The light chocolate mousse journeys through a large bed of chocolate flakes, and as this occurs, the truffles are coated in Belgian chocolate shavings, creating a unique and delicious treat. There are over a dozen truffle flavors to try, and each one is creamy, milky, and mouth-watering. For more flavors in every box, purchase one of the assortment boxes; you will not be disappointed.

The Kinder brand began in 1968 in a small Italian town but has since become a global phenomenon. After only being available in European cities, more recently, Kinder started producing chocolates to be sold in the United States.

Kinder specializes in grabbing the attention of chocolate-loving children. It sells a hollow good-quality chocolate egg with a surprise inside; one half of the egg contains milky sweet creams and wafer bites filled with cocoa cream, while the other contains a surprise toy. While these eggs are not the only chocolate products Kinder sells, they have gained the brand extreme popularity with the younger audience.

For chocolate lovers of all ages, Kinder crafts Kinder Bueno, which shares its own bit of surprise. Beneath the milk chocolate surface, your tastes buds will be surprised with a crispy wafer filled with a creamy hazelnut filling. Then the entire bar is coated and drizzled with dark chocolate. These bars are incredibly satisfying but not too heavy.

The Guylian chocolate founders created Guylian Sea Shells in celebration of love and chocolate. Founder Guy Foubert was a passionate Belgian chocolatier, then met his forever girl Liliane, who helped design the shining exterior and the delicately sculpted shapes. They combined their names to create Guylian and over 80 years later, the brand is one of the top-selling boxed chocolate brands in the world, available in 120 different countries. All Guylian chocolates are still produced in Belgium today.

Aside from the famous seashells, Guylian also produces truffles and chocolates with no sugar added, in flavors like Coffee Cardamom or Caramel Pineapple. We appreciate the diversity of these chocolates, the unique shells, and the flavors that Guylian crafts. Known as being Belgium's favorite chocolates, we can agree that these chocolates are of a high quality and delightfully delicious. The creamy nature and the sprinkle topping of the truffles made them truly irresistible.

Next on our chocolate brands list is Milka, one of the most popular chocolate brands in Europe. For the last 120 years (and counting), every Milka chocolate product has been made with 100% real Alpine milk — the reason for its incredibly creamy texture.

Milka offers a variety of chocolate bar flavors, including Alpine Milk and bars made with hazelnut, white chocolate, or Oreo. For our hazelnut lovers, Milka Noisette is to die for and the definition of a chocolate bar that melts in your mouth. This bar marries soft chocolate with 100% Alpine milk and a strong aroma of hazelnuts.

While we can't get enough of the milk chocolate offerings from Milka, the dark chocolate varieties fell a little short in our taste test. The most important thing to note is this brand's chocolate is best enjoyed in a European country. While you can order online, we have heard if you get it shipped to the United States, the quality and taste do not last the trip overseas.

Godiva offers premium chocolates for a fairly reasonable price, considering the quality. Although affordable, its gold-wrapped, ribbon-tied packages radiate luxury, and each box contains great quality chocolate. The Belgian brand started in 1926, and today the global team of Chefs and Chocolatiers keeps the tradition alive; Godiva is now available in over 80 countries.

Unlike other chocolate brands that taste unauthentic, we think Godiva's chocolate is the perfect amount of sweet and creamy. The brand uses premium ingredients, so you will never worry about its chocolates tasting fake, only rich and satisfying chocolates and truffles without the added preservatives.

While Godiva's chocolates can cost more than other brands we have outlined so far, the quality is worth the price. If you are looking to taste Godiva without the steep price tag, though, they make smaller boxes and individually wrapped chocolates for all to enjoy. This brand is definitely worth splurging on for the right occasion.

If you know anything about chocolate, you know the name Hershey. ​​Hershey's has been around for 125 years, crafting your favorite chocolates like Hershey's chocolate bars and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Today, Hershey is the umbrella for more than 90 brands and products, including sweets, mints, and snacks, but we will stick with discussing the company's best chocolate offerings for this article.

We love a Hershey's bar because it's consistently excellent and delightfully sweet. Hershey offers so many varieties of chocolate, in every shape and size — from Reese's to Krackle to Almond Joy. Additionally, Hershey comes to play with seasonal chocolates and boxes we cannot resist when any holiday strikes. Any day of the week, we find a Hershey's chocolate product that can curb our sweet tooth and make any after-meal bite a little bit sweeter. The wrapping on Hershey products is neither fancy nor gold, but nothing satisfies quite like a Hershey's bar.

Taking the gold in our ranking of 20 chocolate brands is Lindt Chocolate. The brand has been perfecting chocolate for over 170 years. According to Lindt, behind every Lindt chocolate creation is a passionate and skilled master chocolatier. These chocolatiers come from around the world and help to keep Lindt's products innovative and exciting.

Lindt's Lindor truffles are the company's most well-known product. These truffles are the definition of smooth and offer the perfect amount of chocolate filling in every bite. The flavor possibilities feel endless, but some of our favorites are the original milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and sea salt milk chocolate.

The chocolates from Lindt taste incredibly high-quality, creamy, and delicious, so it's no secret the brand snagged our No. 1 spot. We love the taste, no doubt, and feel like you can never go wrong with grabbing a bag of Lindt Lindor truffles or a Lindt Excellence Chocolate bar. Lindt has given excellence to all our senses.