It’s pronounced jay-koko, inspired by our founder Jean - the ‘j’ in jcoco! When CEO Jean Thompson founded jcoco  in 2012, her mission was twofold: elevate the way people experience chocolate and turn an everyday indulgence into an opportunity to make a difference.

No, our 3oz bars are actually three individually wrapped 1oz bars in one envelope. These 1oz bars are the perfect serving size for chocolate, and the sets of three are meant to either save or share!

Ten of our eleven bars are made with sunflower lecithin and are soy-free. Our Cayenne Veracruz Orange bar is made with soy lecithin. We use sunflower or soy lecithin as an emulsifier, to control the viscosity and keep our chocolate nice and smooth.

Peru is the ancestral home of cacao and is known for fine-flavored cacao beans - and with all of her travels there, has become Jean’s favorite place to visit.

Our Peruvian chocolate maker does not currently make a white chocolate. Our white chocolate is made with Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa. The Rainforest Alliance is an international non-profit organization building an alliance to protect forests, improve the livelihoods of farmers and forest communities, promote their human rights, and help them mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.

Yes, jcoco has 6 vegan flavors: 

• Single Varietal Contamana Cacao
• Peruvian Dark with Cacao Nibs
• Black Fig & Pistachio
• Boharat Spice
• Orange Blossom Espresso
• Alaskan Smoked Sea Salt

All of our jcoco bars are gluten free. Our rigorous allergen cross-contact prevention program includes cleaning and detecting gluten on all machines before manufacturing a new product batch.

Access to healthy food is something we all need to thrive. With every bar sold, we donate 10% of our net profits to food justice organizations like Northwest Harvest, San Francisco Marin Food Bank, and Food Bank For New York City, to help the fight against hunger in the US.

We are not Fair Trade certified, but we have a direct relationship with our farmers and chocolate maker which allows us to pay them without a middle man and significantly more above Farm Gate Pricing.

Black Fig Pistachio contains pistachios.  Orange blossom espresso and Mango Plantain bars contain coconut oil; coconut is classified as a tree nut by the FDA.  All other bars are nut free, however, jcoco bars are made in a plant that handles milk, soy, peanut, other tree nuts, egg and wheat products.  We follow a rigorous cleaning and sanitation program between batches to ensure the lines are allergen free.

Your chocolate likes to play it just a little cooler than you do. We recommend storing our chocolate in a cool, dry place. The ideal storage temperature is 55-70 degrees F. Be sure you don’t store your chocolate in your refrigerator! Much like baking soda, chocolate is susceptible to absorbing unwanted odors. Being exposed to cold temperatures for too long can also cause your chocolate to bloom.

The well-being of our consumers is always at the forefront of our minds, and we have rigorous processes and testing in place to ensure the safest (and most delicious!) possible product for you.

Cadmium and lead can be found in the soil in regions where cacao is grown, and may enter cacao via the tree’s roots (cadmium) or by adhering to the shells of cacao beans during fermentation (lead)¹. 

We recently resubmitted our highest percent cacao products for testing at a lab, and we’re happy to report that they all fall far under the daily standards for lead and cadmium set forth by the FDA², EU³, and Codex Alimentarius Commission⁴. These bars can be used as a baseline for the remainder of our product offerings, as they have the highest cacao content.

While we have full trust in these standards, if you would prefer to adhere to those set forth by California’s Prop 65⁵, you can also view those below.

If you are concerned about your heavy metal intake, it’s important to evaluate your entire diet - foods like cereal, rice, fish, roots, mushrooms, etc. can also be sources of heavy metals.

Please see the recommended amount you should consume to adhere to each set of standards⁶:

¹ SOURCE

² The FDA (Food and Drug Administration)is the United States’ centralized federal system for food regulation, inspection and examination. The FDA is accountable for the majority of food products in the country.

³ For the 27 European countries in the EU, the food standards laws are all streamlined into one governing body: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EFSA is responsible for EU food safety regulations and standards; mandatory for all the member countries.

⁴ Codex Alimentarius is a joint inter-governmental FAO/WHO food standards program with over 170 member countries (including the US).  Codex Alimentarius standards are based off internationally accepted scientific and technological standards, and the goal of Codex Alimentarius is to develop international food standards, guidelines and recommendations to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade.

⁵ Prop65 is a California law adopted by direct voter initiative in 1986 as a “Safe Drinking Water” measure to address concerns about exposure to toxic chemicals. It is officially known as the Safe Drinking water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. Prop65 requires warning labels on packages of “listed chemicals” when they exceed “Maximum Allowable Dose Limits” or MADL provided by the law for more than 1,000 chemicals, many of which include natural minerals found in soil.

⁶ FDA, EU and Codex standards are based on a per oz basis

It sounds pretty, but it can actually be pretty odd looking. Blooming is a process where the fats and sugars of the chocolate resolidify, and become visible on the outer surface of the chocolate shell. This can look like whitish “dust” on the surface of the chocolate. While this does not affect the flavor of the chocolate, it can look somewhat unappealing. But yes, you can definitely still eat it!

Our chocolates have a shelf life ranging from 15 minutes to 12 months depending on your personal resolve and self-control.

Yes! Our 3 oz envelopes, bar wraps, copper inner foil wraps and gift boxes are recyclable.

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