Chocolate Subscription - Continuous
Treat yourself or a friend to chocolate in mail every month.
We hand select three bars and ship them right to your door. Included is a letter which ties the chocolate bars together with a common theme and gives some behind the scenes details.
The bars included will encompass the full range of products we produce; white, milk, dark and flavoured.
Allergies or dietary restrictions can be accommodated on request.
The subscription is billed monthly. If you select a term of 3 months, 6 months or a year the monthly charge will automatically stop at the end of the term.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: $5 to ship anywhere in Canada, what's the catch?
A: Our subscription ships letter mail within Canada. The rate is consistent no matter where it goes. The downside to letter mail shipping is that it can take longer than parcel shipping and there is no tracking number. The additional time is really only noticeable on the first shipment as they rest fall into a monthly cadence after that. Typical ship times are 1-2 weeks when going cross country and as quick as a few days within the east coast provinces. If you wish to have your subscription sent as a tracked parcel, we can arrange for that. Depending on the destination, shipping costs can range from $15-23.
Q: Can I prepay for a set amount of months?
A: The website is only capable of processing the subscription 1 month at a time. The monthly charge will reoccur until cancelled unless you have selected a predetermined time interval. For example, if you have signed up for a 3 month subscription, the charges will stop automatically after 3 months. If you would like to make 1 lump sum payment, please send us an email at info@mcguirechocolate.com or send a message through the contact page and we can coordinate: https://mcguirechocolate.com/pages/contact
Q: How can I cancel my subscription?
A: There are two methods for cancelling your subscription, the one that is applicable to you depends on when you registered. In October 2022, we switched website platforms which changed the software that is used to manage the subscription accounts. If you were a subscriber prior to October 2022 then your subscription is billed through Stripe. There is no user login portal for Stripe so to cancel, please send us an email at info@mcguirechocolate.com or send a message through the contact page and we can coordinate: https://mcguirechocolate.com/pages/contact
For the subscription from October 2022 onwards, your subscription is linked to your website login and can be cancelled or modified at your convenience. Please provide 1 week notice before your renewal if there are any changes.
Q: I want to give this as a gift. How will the receiver know who sent it?
A: Every subscription comes with a personally addressed note which gives context to the shipment. The first subscription note welcomes to the new subscriber, explains the flow, and credits the generous gift giver for the thoughtful present :) If you have a personalized message that you'd like included, simply include them in the order notes or send us a message with the details.
Q: Does the subscription ship in the summer?
A: We send out an email in May to warn of the impending warm weather identify the risks of shipping chocolate in the heat. We lay out some options to mitigate the risks which include pausing until the summer has passed, batching the summer months into a single shipment under ice packs or just riding it out. We have had reasonable success with summer shipments, if the receiving mailbox is inside or under shade cover. A sun exposed receiving mailbox will result in melted chocolate more often than not :)
Changing the Focus
Industry Evolution
The 20th century chocolate industry was built on a few extremely large companies - making all of the chocolate in the world and distributing it through chocolatiers. Single origin wasn’t even niche – it just wasn’t a thing. In this model we lost all transparency to the source and cacao was treated as a commodity. There are even futures contracts for cacao traded on global exchanges. This treatment is similar to other commodities like oil and gold. The problem is that when we accept cacao as a commodity, we imply that all cacao is created equal. In turn, the effect on farmers is that they emphasize yield over quality. Why go through the investment and effort of having your cacao properly fermented if it’s not going to fetch a premium in the marketplace?
When we list our cacao source – not simply the country but the farmer group – you know that your chocolate bar is made from cacao the supports farmer premiums for a product that goes the extra mile.
High Quality
Fermented Cacao
An astonishing amount of effort goes into well fermented cacao. The fermentation process must occur within 2 days of being cut from the tree and cacao trees grow in some of the most remote areas of the world. It is not a commercial crop as it requires strong biodiversity to thrive.
On top of this, the fermentation process is capital intensive as it requires infrastructure and technical expertise. A tall order for cacao farmers who (for the most part) live below the poverty line and get squeezed by commodity cacao prices.
Tracability
Is the chocolate you eat transparently traded?
The best indicator is if the farm is listed on the chocolate bar. When the cacao source is listed – not simply the country but the farmer group – you know that your chocolate bar is made from cacao the supports farmer premiums for a product that goes the extra mile.
farmers first
ETHICAL AND TRACEABLE
Fair trade certifications do not go nearly far enough to ensure farmers are actually treated fairly in the chocolate industry. When your cacao sources are traceable you can be confident there is accountability in the supply chain.
A labour of love
The Chocolate Making Process
1
Working with fermented cacao
Only about 5% of cacao in the world undergoes a controlled fermentation due to the specialized knowledge and infrastructure required in remote areas.
2
Transparently and ethically sourced
We publish our supply chain because we are proud of its contributors. You can trace all of our origins back to the farmers and fermentaries.
3
Roasted at different levels
Roasting is the primary flavour influencer that a chocolate maker directly controls. We design, and continuely tweak, a unique profile for each one of our cacao bean origins.
4
Shell removal
Cacao beans are roasted in their shells which then have to be removed before grinding. We have built many winnowers over the years to help semi-automate this labour intensive process.
5
Grinding the ingredients
Melangers stones are made of heavy granite and roll over cacao until the fat naturally liquifies and eventually smooths out. This grinding process takes a week to complete and is where all of the ingredients of chocolate come together.
6
Measure microns
We use a grindometer to measure the micron size of our chocolate near the end of the grinding process. We take our chocolate below 30 microns which is as smooth as the human tongue can detect.
7
Obtain max flavor
The amount of air we exposed the chocolate to during the grind will harmonize the flavour components and mellow the insentity levels.
8
Feel good chocolate
It's easy to feel good while eating world-class chocolate made using only top notch ingredients from traceable sources.
Working with fermented cacao
1
Only about 5% of cacao in the world undergoes a controlled fermentation due to the specialized knowledge and infrastructure required in remote areas.
Transparently and ethically sourced
2
We publish our supply chain because we are proud of its contributors. You can trace all of our origins back to the farmers and fermentaries.
Roasted at different levels
3
Roasting is the primary flavour influencer that a chocolate maker directly controls. We design, and continuely tweak, a unique profile for each one of our cacao bean origins.
Shell removal
4
Cacao beans are roasted in their shells which then have to be removed before grinding. We have built many winnowers over the years to help semi-automate this labour intensive process.
Grinding the ingredients
5
Melangers stones are made of heavy granite and roll over cacao until the fat naturally liquifies and eventually smooths out. This grinding process takes a week to complete and is where all of the ingredients of chocolate come together.
Measure microns
6
We use a grindometer to measure the micron size of our chocolate near the end of the grinding process. We take our chocolate below 30 microns which is as smooth as the human tongue can detect.
Obtain max flavor
7
The amount of air we exposed the chocolate to during the grind will harmonize the flavour components and mellow the insentity levels.
Feel good chocolate
8
It's easy to feel good while eating world-class chocolate made using only top notch ingredients from traceable sources.
