IQ Chocolate - A Natural Superfood
At last week's Natural and Organic Show we met up with IQ Chocolate Founder Jane Shandley, who not only let us sample some of the great flavours the IQ range has to offer but told us a little about what makes this chocolate so super!
"Our original superfood chocolate received 2 gold stars in the Great Taste Awards, was featured on BBC Great British menu, Sunday Brunch, was on the menu for a banquet for visiting dignitaries at the Olympics, and was showcased at the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles.
iQ chocolate is available in high-end delicatessens, organic and whole food stores across the UK, and beyond: Whole Foods, Planet Organic, As Nature Intended, Harvey Nichols and The Chocolate Gourmet, to name just a few.
However, as well as awards and recognition for the taste of our chocolate, based on the quality of our ingredients, our gentle processing and extensive research, iQ chocolate is the only chocolate bar to have validated health benefits, and can be described as a natural superfood.
We have invested in partnerships with academic institutions, to assist us in finding the most flavourful and most nutritionally dense ingredients. Because of its international reputation, The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health at Aberdeen University was particularly important in terms of our credibility in this field. We also secured the services of an expert in EU Food and Health legislation to ensure that all our health claims are consistent with these requirements.
Our most recent research project, partnering with Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, to investigate the impact of our chocolate on sporting performance (research was done with the SRU international 7s squad) received a great deal of media attention.
Our chocolate is dairy free, gluten free, soya free, and low Gi (suitable for diabetics)."
Back in 2011, Kate and Jane, the IQ Superfood Chocolate alchemists were dreamily fantasising about their ideal snack - a guilt-free, tasty healthy chocolate bar. 
Never shy of a challenge, they were soon deeply engrossed in developing a truly unique Bean-To-Bar SuperFood chocolate; scouring the most remote corners of the planet to find the healthiest and tastiest raw ingredients, before finally discovering, in the fertile lands of Peru, the rare and intoxicating pure Criollo bean.
Many long days and nights followed perfecting the recipe. The bean was incredible but it needed to be sweetened without impurities, with an infusion of nature...so they added coconut blossom nectar.
They then played around with some natural, organic and intoxicating flavours. 6 months later - eureka! They had cracked it - a sensationally delicious chocolate range, handmade from Bean-To-Bar retaining the raw SuperFood nutrients and antioxidants, containing less than 199 calories, with a taste, texture and snap that would delight chocolate-boffins and the health-conscious alike.
Discover more at www.iqchoc.com