To say some chocolates are distinctively middle class?

[lionobserving]

MIL asked us if we thought our ferrero rocher tower was "aspirational" and said she knows ferrero rochers to be the aspirational chocolates of the working class.

This baffled me. My family has always sort of transcended class - my mum was upper middle, my day was very working class. But he was a doctor and she a nurse. We were probably lower middle growing up if I had to put a tag on it, but our mixed extended family meant that we weren't aware of what was "posh" or MC / WC. We certainly wouldn't have known which chocs has the markings of which class.

Therefore MNers - lightheartedly - tell me which chocolates you view as typically middle class? We discussed it as a family and we couldn't come up with a single one!

www.bruyerre.eu/en/

[quote Harmonypuss]@EchosMum2007

On the other hand Artisan du Chocolat screams "POSH", as does Z-Chocolate.

I can assure you that these 'sound' posh but they're made of exactly the same ingredients as the aldi chocolates I mentioned a few messages up-thtead.
How do I know this? Because it's Artisan du Chocolat, based in Ashford, Kent, that my son worked for![/quote]
Oh, no doubt the ingredients are mainly the same, one would hope that ANY brand chocolate would have your chocolate butter, chocolate beans, sugar, milk powder, etc... It's not only about the basic ingredients, surely, what separates the proverbial grain from the chaff. It's interesting that Aldi these days have on sale practically identical design luxury chocolates as Artisan du Chocolate used to sell off Sloane Square 10-15 years ago. Totally ripped off! Someone in Aldi marketing team finally cottoned on after all these years, lol.

Been thinking about this (though myself am not a chocolate lover!) It's interesting how the meaning of "aspirational" changes from generation to generation. For example, I'd have thought Fortnum & Mason would be still be considered up there at the top on the "aspirational"/MC scale, although I do question quality and actual taste of some of their edible offerings, chocolates including. My old friend has a tradition of putting together and gifting individual luxury food hampers for her work team at Christmas. She starts sourcing little artisan-made edible items for the hampers months before, well, she would not touch F&M chocolates with a bargepole, as she regards them "too high-street/too main stream", instead preferring to buy chocolates from Dark Sugars on Brick Lane or from Paul A. Young in Soho.

Can I be Honest? Not one single British chocolatier id consider posh or luxurious or whatever, I also never liked anything from Harrods, F&M , Charbonnel et walker . They do pretty packaging but no flavour , you can tell that the chocolate Used is no different to supermarket ones, They just don’t taste like the chocolates you get from La Maison du chocolat , Jean Paul Hèvin.

I used to find La Maison du chocolat in London, they just seemed to have disappeared all of sudden so I now stock up whenever I visit family in Paris.

One of my very MC relations in law made fun of my brother for buying the wrong type of chocolates, it was really nasty.

For some people, making sure you have the "right" chocolates in the house is a thing. I think it is pretty sad really.

It will be interesting to see what happens to shops like F&M - I haven't been in for years, it would never occur to me to go there to buy anything foodie. I always see it as a rich pensioner one-stop shop.

@LolaLouLou

One of my very MC relations in law made fun of my brother for buying the wrong type of chocolates, it was really nasty.

For some people, making sure you have the "right" chocolates in the house is a thing. I think it is pretty sad really.

I think the type of chocolates you buy someone as a gift is pretty important though - I'm less bothered about the type of chocolates you buy for yourself.

@Longtime
How much is a bar of Tony's in the Netherlands?
Here in Ireland it's €4.

@Harmonypuss

A few years ago I'd have said anything from Fortnum & Mason, but then my son went to work for the chocolate company that produces a lot of their chocolate, only to discover that they make for Waitrose, M&S, Morrisons, Tesco, Asda and Aldi too. The stores say they have different recipes with different grades/suppliers of the actual chocolate/beans but the factory would regularly interchange different ingredients between products if they had a glut or shortage of something. So now, I'm very reluctant to say that anything is actually "posh" unless you can genuinely trace its provenance.

My sister worked in the clothing industry - the same thing there too, those factories in China made the same polo shirts for countless companies! Branding is key.

footcushion My younger brother doesn't live in the country and had no idea of what chocolates my relative would find acceptable. The snobbery was really unpleasant.

I would prefer to hang out with a pleasant person who has a box of a quality streets, then a vocal food snob with some artisan chocolates.

@queenofarles

Can I be Honest? Not one single British chocolatier id consider posh or luxurious or whatever, I also never liked anything from Harrods, F&M , Charbonnel et walker . They do pretty packaging but no flavour , you can tell that the chocolate Used is no different to supermarket ones, They just don’t taste like the chocolates you get from La Maison du chocolat , Jean Paul Hèvin. I used to find La Maison du chocolat in London, they just seemed to have disappeared all of sudden so I now stock up whenever I visit family in Paris.

Shhhhh…. but TK Maxx and Homesense carry Maison Du Chocolate a few times in the year….

What? Ambassador's chocs not posh? I'm devastated, now I've got to send the chauffeur out to buy some Creme Eggs. I'll stack them by the Galaxy chocolate fountain at my late NY party later. Thank goodness I've found out in time. Thank you all.

@LolaLouLou
What chocolates had your brother bought?

So not After Eights then?

[quote Harmonypuss]@EchosMum2007

On the other hand Artisan du Chocolat screams "POSH", as does Z-Chocolate.

I can assure you that these 'sound' posh but they're made of exactly the same ingredients as the aldi chocolates I mentioned a few messages up-thtead.
How do I know this? Because it's Artisan du Chocolat, based in Ashford, Kent, that my son worked for![/quote]
Doesn’t mean they are not ‘Posh’ though - we buy in to the shopping experience, presentation, wrapping, tissue and quality gift bag - all art of the posh-choc experience.
Especially when purchased for gifting, just not the same to give an Aldi bar in a carrier bag!

Läderach - shipped in direct from Switzerland. If you haven't tried them you are missing out.

Although the ambassadors chocs are just for the staff party you understand. Our family and guest chocolates are constructed once a month from the finest ingredients by a Belgian chocolatier whom we fly in specifically for this purpose. He makes them our pastry kitchen. Very useful.

Dark chocolate ‘fancy’ flavours that you cannot just sit and binge on are middle class to me. Thorntons Continental type boxes, however i just don’t like dark chocolate with coffee or lemon fillings

@EchosMum2007

What is the palm oil status of the choclate you mention though.

I got something recently from a little artisan chock shop and I was astonished to learn that their ganash does contain palm oil!!

Fortnum has banned palm oil in their products which is what makes them stand out. They get many of their chock supplied by Audrey of Hove.

Has anyone mentioned Bendicts Bitter Mints as posh crocs?

Chocs not crocs!

Thewiseoneincognito probably not the fresh pralines .

I think the type of chocolates you buy someone as a gift is pretty important though anyone who makes fun of someone when they've just brought them a gift, they're the problem, not the person with the "wrong" chocolate.

@Harmonypuss

Was it Audrey choclate on Hove because they produce many chocs for fortnum??

Echo sorry I've mistakenly tagged you, I'm getting all the worked up about choclate 🤣.

OK harmony I've just looked at that website and they seem to have standards.

It's the seven sisters of the the choclate world

Well I still have faith in Audreys.