Icelandic bean-to-bar business Omnom releases alternative Easter treat

Icelandic-based bean to bar manufacturer Omnom’s popular Easter bunny is reportedly taking a year off this April’s festivities – but he’s left another treat in for a mango-passion and milk chocolate almonds to celebrate, writes Neill Barston.

The company, based in Reykjavík, has honed its bean-to-bar operation over the past eight years, sourcing its cocoa from key sustainable operations including from smallholder farmers in Madagascar, Tanzania and Nicaragua.

As the ethically-founded business noted, its latest creation has carefully mixed the acidity of passion fruit and the fruitiness of mango to blend with the texture and sweet flavour of milk chocolate, and salty toasted almonds for an alternative confectionery option.

The business is thought to be the only one of its kind in the country, and has made use of Iceland’s distinctive dairy herds and pure sea salt to craft its range that is available through online sources including its own website. Also within the series are its ‘Krunch’ chocolate coated malt balls (below), as well as milk, dark, and white varieties of chocolate bar.

Kjartan Gíslason, co-founder of Omnom, explained that despite the challenges of the pandemic, the business was determined to make the most of the Easter period with its new alternative treat.

He said: “For Mr. Carrots´ Mango-Passion Milk Chocolate Almonds, we originally wanted to add something that could go along with the Mr. Carrots Chocolate Bunny as an extra snack. Unfortunately, this year we had to cancel the production of our signature bunny because the new packaging material got delayed due to the pandemic, so we missed our deadline for this year’s production. We had been making some modifications to the box and we didn’t want to take an alternative route since we were so happy with what the new packaging had to offer.

“Luckily, we had been working on a box for the almond treats and found a local supplier that could work with us. The mango-passion chocolate and milk chocolate combined with the roasted almond was inspired by a flavour combination from a macaroon I had in Paris many years ago at Pierre Hermé’s pâtisserie. I think it’s such a perfect balance of the sweetness and tartness between the tropical fruit and the velvety milk chocolate. The crunch and roasted flavor of the salty almond really brings it all together. I’ve been so in love with that flavour combination ever since my first encounter with it in Paris, that I try to sneak it in at any given opportunity. The end result is our Mr. Carrots’ Mango-Passion Milk Chocolate Almonds, a perfect snack for Easter.”

 

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