Ghirardelli Chocolate Company - Premium Baking Non Dairy 52% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips - Sept. 18, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
Premium Baking Non-Dairy 52% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips
Good ++ - Good +++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 10 oz. (283 g.) in total package 
Calories: 140 calories in 2 servings (30 g.)
Cost: $6.99 for 1 package 
Purchased from: Safeway, Menlo Park, CA

Welcome to Day #11 of Chocolate Banquet 20th Birthday Celebration Theme Week, featuring several chocolates that have been enabling this chocolate journey for a very long time.

Ghirardelli Chocolate was one of the revered chocolate "elders" when I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. It had its own "building" (with roots that extended back to the 1850s) that served ice cream and chocolate by the San Francisco Bay.* I have sweet memories of being treated to towering chocolate ice cream sundaes on an upper floor of Ghirardelli Square overlooking the Bay, within easy walking distance of Fisherman's Wharf.

The first Ghirardelli chocolate featured on this Chocolate Banquet site was in November 2006; but I'd been enjoying their chocolate long before then in stealth form (as part of other people's baked goods, or in ice cream sundaes).

Today, I ate some of these chocolate chips fresh out of the package; and they also were melted and made into chocolate cups (that will be filled with ice cream, fruits and other dessert items).

Aroma and flavor notes for today's Ghirardelli Premium Baking Non-Dairy 52% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips included: sweet dark chocolate with very faint brown sugar and vanilla, that lingered into a clean, sweet, almost bright and fruity, chocolate-y finish--a sweetness consistent with those vanilla and chocolate ice cream sundaes with lots of chocolate sauce, probably topped with a cherry or two.

Ingredients: Unsweetened chocolate, cane sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, vanilla extract

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured on equipment that also processes milk."

*Domenico Ghirardelli (1817-1894) came to San Francisco (via South America) during the California Gold Rush. He was from Italy (where he had some early exposure to chocolate and trained as a confectioner). He first worked in South America (and changed his name to Domingo) before heading up to the gold fields and opening a general store in Stockton, followed by business locations in San Francisco.

Ghirardelli saw (and helped create) a market for chocolate when he arrived in San Francisco, as would Etienne Guittard a few years later.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Company (San Leandro, CA) is now owned by Lindt. The original family hasn't owned the company since the 1960s; but it's nice to see the business is still thriving in the Bay Area.

Guittard - 72% Cacao Coconut Sugar Sante Mini Dark Chocolate Chips - Sept. 17, 2026

Chocolate of The Day

Guittard
72% Cacao Coconut Sugar Sante - Mini Dark Chocolate Chips
Good ++ - Good+++
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) / 9 oz. (255 g.) in total package
Calories: 140 calories in 2 servings
Cost: $8.99 (sale) for 1 package
Purchased from: Safeway, Menlo Park, CA 

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate Banquet 20th Year Anniversary Celebration Week, featuring several local San Francisco Bay Area chocolate makers who've made this adventure possible over the long haul.

The latest wave of bean-to-bar makers in the Bay Area is discussed a lot. But two of the oldest chocolate makers in the Bay Area date back to the 1800s: Guittard* and Ghirardelli--both makers and suppliers of premium chocolate. 

Today's 72% Cacao Coconut Sugar Santee Mini Dark Chocolate Chips were from Guittard Chocolate Co. (Burlingame, CA). 

Guittard formulates high-end chocolate for professionals as well as home bakers, with many uses, including: couverture chocolate(s) used by chocolatiers and chefs; as well as chocolate bars and chocolate chips. 

The first Guittard chocolate listed on Chocolate Banquet was an Ambanja Bittersweet 65% Madagascar bar in June 2007. However, chocolates made by others (using Guittard chocolate) appeared within weeks of when this blog started in 2006. (Some chocolatiers kept this secret; others were very proud to tell you they used Guittard.)

All Guittard chocolates (for me) over the past 20 years have been tasty a la carte, right out of the package. For dark chocolate fans, there's no need to wait to bake a chocolate cake to try these.

I found today's three-ingredient, sante ("health") mini dark chocolate chips sweetened with coconut sugar in the baking section of a local supermarket. There was only one pretty, shiny, silver blue bag left. (I think that's because they were quite good.) I ate some plain, used some in a trail mix; and plan to use leftovers to make a high-end, chocolate dessert in a solar cooker.

Aroma and flavor notes for today's mini chocolate chips included: rich, chocolate-y flavor (that extended into the finish) with subtle coconut sugar/nectar (brown sugar) and faint, pleasant vanilla. 

Texture: smooth, firm texture with a satisfying melt (when eaten out of hand, fresh out of the bag).

These mini dark chocolate chips would add little pops of rich chocolate and warm, toasty brown sugar/toffee flavor to cookies, brownies, and a whole host of chocolate desserts. And, as mentioned, no need to muss up that kitchen with all that baking; they were great by themselves and added to a trail mix.

I also appreciated these were safe for people with allergies and health-related issues. They were "free from 14 allergies and sensitivities," including: soy, peanuts, tree nuts, and gluten. And they were Fair Trade Certified as well as dairy-free and Certified Vegan.

Ingredients: Cacao Beans+, Organic Coconut Sugar* (from the nectar of coconut trees), and Vanilla (+Fair Trade Certified; *Organic)

Allergen-related information: "Free from 14 common allergens" including soy, peanuts, tree nuts and gluten. (Contained coconut sugar; no refined cane sugar.)

*Etienne Guittard arrived in San Francisco during the Gold Rush in the mid-1800s and saw the potential demand for fine chocolate. He set up a chocolate shop on Sansome Street in 1868, and was one of the first chocolate makers in San Francisco. 

And the company is still family-owned (and operated), more than 150 years later. No small feat.