The Hu chocolate bar has built a reputation as the cleanest chocolate on the market. No refined sugar, no dairy, no emulsifiers, no soy lecithin, no cane sugar alternatives that just swap one problem for another. The pitch is simple: chocolate the way it was before the food industry got involved. But does the ingredient list actually hold up, and is the taste good enough to justify the premium price? This review breaks it all down.
What Is Hu Chocolate?
Hu Kitchen launched in New York City as a restaurant before pivoting to packaged foods. Their chocolate bars hit retail shelves around 2013 and have since expanded to Whole Foods, Target, Costco, and major online retailers. The brand's entire identity is built on removing ingredients they call 'the questionable stuff' — a list that includes refined sugar, emulsifiers, sugar alcohols, and anything that sounds like it was made in a lab rather than grown in a field.
Hu's core ingredient philosophy: organic cacao, unrefined coconut sugar, and organic cocoa butter. That's the base of virtually every bar they make. Everything else — sea salt, nuts, dried fruit — is an addition, not a workaround.
Hu Chocolate Ingredients: What's Actually In It?
Here's the full ingredients list for their classic Simple Dark Chocolate bar:
Organic cacao, organic unrefined coconut sugar, organic cocoa butter.
Three ingredients. That's it. No vanilla extract, no soy lecithin (used in most chocolate as an emulsifier to improve texture and reduce production cost), no added flavors. The minimalism is intentional and unusual. Most 'clean' dark chocolates still contain soy lecithin or sunflower lecithin — Hu uses neither.
How Does Hu Chocolate Taste?
The Simple Dark (70% cacao) has an intense, slightly bitter cocoa flavor with a clean sweetness from coconut sugar that doesn't taste artificial or overly sweet. The texture is snappy — it breaks cleanly, which is a sign of proper tempering and good cocoa butter content. It melts evenly in the mouth without a waxy finish.
Coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar and a subtle caramel undertone that works well with dark chocolate. You don't taste coconut — you taste chocolate with a richer, more complex sweetness than refined sugar delivers.
The Almond Butter + Puffed Quinoa bar is arguably their best seller and for good reason: the crunch from puffed quinoa, the creaminess of almond butter, and the bitterness of the dark chocolate create a genuinely satisfying combination that most chocolate bars at any price point don't match.
Hu Chocolate Bar Lineup: Which Flavors Are Vegan?
All Hu bars in their core dark chocolate range are vegan. Here's the main lineup:
- Simple Dark Chocolate — 70% cacao, 3 ingredients, fully vegan
- Almond Butter + Puffed Quinoa — vegan, Paleo, no dairy
- Hazelnut Butter — vegan, Paleo, no dairy
- Cashew Butter + Vanilla Bean — vegan, Paleo, no dairy
- Salty Dark Chocolate — vegan, 70% cacao + sea salt
- Crispy Mint — vegan, uses peppermint oil
- Wild Blueberry + Lemon — vegan, uses dried fruit
Hu also makes a White Chocolate bar — check the current label carefully. White chocolate formulations can vary, and some use dairy-derived ingredients. Hu's white chocolate has historically used cashew milk, making it vegan, but verify on the current label for your market.
Is It Vegan?
Yes — Hu's entire dark chocolate range is vegan. The ingredients are free from dairy, milk solids, whey, and casein. The bars are certified Paleo and certified Gluten-Free. They're also Non-GMO Project Verified and USDA Organic. Hu does not use bone char in their sugar processing — they use unrefined coconut sugar, which is never processed through bone char filters (a common issue with conventional cane sugar).
The absence of soy lecithin also means no concern about soy-based cross-processing. Hu's manufacturing is dedicated — they don't produce dairy chocolate in the same facilities. If you're uncertain about any ingredient in your chocolate, check it through our vegan ingredient checker before buying.
Hu vs Other Premium Vegan Dark Chocolates
| Brand | Cacao % | Sweetener | Emulsifier | Certified Organic | Price per oz |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hu Simple Dark | 70% | Coconut sugar | None | Yes | ~$1.50 |
| Alter Eco Deep Dark | 85% | Cane sugar | Sunflower lecithin | Yes | ~$1.20 |
| Endangered Species 72% | 72% | Cane sugar | Sunflower lecithin | Yes | ~$0.90 |
| Lindt 70% Excellence | 70% | Cane sugar | Soy lecithin | No | ~$0.60 |
| Theo 70% Dark | 70% | Cane sugar | Sunflower lecithin | Yes | ~$1.10 |
What Does Hu Get Right?
- No emulsifiers at all — most competitors still use sunflower lecithin
- Coconut sugar avoids the bone char issue inherent to refined cane sugar
- Genuinely short ingredient lists across the whole range
- Good tempering — proper snap and melt, not a waxy or crumbly texture
- Paleo certified means no grains, legumes, or refined ingredients
What Are the Downsides?
- Price: A 2.1 oz bar retails for $3–$4, making it one of the most expensive mainstream dark chocolates per ounce.
- Sweetness level: Coconut sugar is sweeter-tasting than you'd expect from a 70% bar compared to cane sugar at the same percentage. If you prefer very bitter dark chocolate, go up to 85%.
- Availability: Widely available in the US — Whole Foods, Target, Amazon. Less consistent in UK and EU markets.
Final Verdict
Hu chocolate is legitimately the cleanest mainstream vegan chocolate bar available in the US. No emulsifiers, no refined sugar, certified organic, certified Paleo, and fully vegan across the dark chocolate range. The taste is excellent — the texture is properly tempered, the coconut sugar sweetness is balanced, and the filled bar varieties (almond butter, hazelnut) outperform most competitors at significantly higher price points. The premium is real — about $1.50 per ounce vs $0.60 for standard dark chocolate — but you're paying for genuinely short ingredients and a company that doesn't hide additives behind the 'natural flavors' catch-all. Worth every penny if clean ingredients matter to you. Worth switching from for everyday snacking if the budget is tight.
