In this article:
Back in August 2020, I reviewed Lidl's Fin Carré Way To Go! Milk & Dark Chocolate Bars. The 100% traceable and Fairtrade chocolate bars followed a near-identical format to Tony's Chocolonely, right down to the weight, a strikingly similar bar design, and even the varieties of the 32% milk chocolate, 70% dark chocolate, and Caramelised Almonds & Sea Salt.
At the time, my store didn't stock the latter bar, but on a recent trip, I found stocks of the final flavour I'd missed out on first time around.
Packaging
The packaging of this Caramelised Almonds & Sea Salt bar follows an identical layout to the milk and dark bars, albeit with an orange colour scheme.
The design features a map with roads named 'Human Rights Alley' and 'Fair Boulevard' to highlight the sustainable credentials of this bar. Indeed, there is a box that explains that this bar incorporates 100% traceable and sustainable cocoa from the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana.
On the reverse is the list of ingredients and nutritional information.
Lidl Fin Carré Way To Go! Caramelised Almonds & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Bar ingredients:
Sugar, whole milk powder, cocoa butter, caramelised almonds (10%) (sugar, butter oil, glucose syrup, butter, roasted almond puree (0.5%), lactose, sea salt, emulsifier (sunflower lecithins), natural vanilla flavouring), cocoa mass, sea salt (0.5%), emulsifier (sunflower lecithins). Cocoa solids: 32% minimum; milk solids: 26% minimum.
Sadly, sugar is the dominant ingredient in this bar, which nudges the overall sugar content to just under 53%.
This bar contains dairy and nuts, and may contain traces of egg, other nuts, gluten, and cereals. It is suitable for vegetarians. There's also a notice warning that "small children can choke on nuts".
This bar carries the Fairtrade logo, explaining that the bar includes Fairtrade certified cocoa, sugar and almonds. The sugar comes with the caveat of that it may be mixed with non-certified sugar under the mass balance scheme, "so that the total matches the amount sourced as Fairtrade" (71.7%).
Lidl Fin Carré Way To Go! Caramelised Almonds & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Bar Review
What's particularly nice about the paper wrapper is that on the inside is a lot of information about the sustainable Ghanaian cocoa in this bar, helping to inform and educate, while you're chowing down.
So, the cocoa is sourced from the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, with the Fairtrade premium paid for each tonne. Lidl claims this money "supports farmers to grow more diverse local crops, like honey, that support a sustainable future and secure a living income for farmers and their families."
The 180g bar is wrapped in a silver foiled-paper, and moulded with a deep groove pattern, with an uncanny resemblance to Tony's Chocolonely bars. As with those bars, snapping off pieces is a good workout for your thumbs.
Lidl reckons there are six 30g servings in this 180g bar, with 164 calories per potion. I count 29 segments, so that's around four to five chunks a sitting.
The snap of the dark chocolate slab was considerably crisper and clearer than that of this milk chocolate variant, although we're dealing with more sugar and caramelised almond additions here to dampen it.
There's a prominent lactic aroma that melds with the sweet and caramel notes. It's reminiscent of a classic mass-produced milk chocolate, albeit with a caramel aroma.
The caramelised almond brittle near the surface had sweated and so was slightly liquid and tacky to the touch.
In terms of flavour, it reminds me of a Daim bar, albeit more chunky, with the flecks of buttery caramelised almond brittle adding crunch to a sweet and creamy milk chocolate base. I picked up notes of butterscotch and caramel in the mix.
I found the salt level to be borderline too much, but it just about stays this side of the mark. A coarse salt has been used here, with the effect presumably to tame the overwhelming sweetness. It works on this level, as well as triggering various receptors in your mouth, telling you to eat more. And more.
This bar doesn't boast nuanced cocoa flavours as it's all about the caramelised almond brittle and sea salt (arguably the chocolate is merely the vehicle). However, there's something satisfying about eating this in front of the telly, in the knowledge that the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana has benefited in some way.
Lidl Fin Carré Way To Go! Caramelised Almonds & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Bar Review
RRP: £1.99 | Lidl | Shop now
I quite enjoyed this bar as I'm fond of the occasional Daim bar and found this bar replicates similar flavours but in a chunkier format. It's sweet and delivers clear caramel flavours throughout, punctuated with the addition of sea salt flakes. All this, plus the feel good factor of knowing the cocoa has come from the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative in Ghana and is fully traceable and sustainable, according to Lidl.
Where to Buy Online
While the Way to Go! chocolate bars were launched as a "middle of Lidl" product line in store, I found the Fin Carré Way To Go! Caramelised Almonds & Sea Salt Milk Chocolate Bar alongside other chocolate bars in the confectionery section.
Lidl doesn't sell their products online, so if you're not near a Lidl store, you may need to turn to eBay for your Fin Carré fix (albeit at a premium).
Have you tried Lidl's Way To Go! Chocolate range? What did you think of the size, flavour, and ethics? Let me know in a comment below.
