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What is that supposed to be good for?
A chocolate cream without palm oil and white sugar, but with more hazelnuts than in comparable spreads - that is the concept of Haselherz. Ebru Erkunt, the Hamburg entrepreneur behind the brand, came up with the idea at the breakfast table: It has always bothered her “that the common spreads often do not meet modern nutritional requirements: mostly too sweet, almost always with palm oil or white sugar . For me this was ecologically questionable and never an option. ”The hazel heart spreads contain sunflower oil instead of palm oil and are sweetened with coconut blossom sugar. There is a non-vegan cream with milk fat and a vegan one without.
The chocolate cream market leader Nutella contains both sugar and palm oil. The latter in particular is under criticism. On the one hand, the oil palm plantations destroy the rainforest; on the other hand, the refining of palm oil can produce so-called fat pollutants, which may be carcinogenic (more on this at the consumer advice center). The Nutella homepage states that the palm oil used is "gently processed" and is therefore "just as harmless as all other high-quality vegetable oils". In addition, the palm oil used in Nutella can be traced back to the oil mill, which guarantees that “it does not come from plantations that are cleared”.
How much does it cost?
Six glasses of hazel heart cost 29.94 euros in the online shop, the price per kilo is 22.68 euros.
For comparison: Nutella with palm oil has a price of six euros per kilo.
A kilo of Nudossi chocolate cream without palm oil costs ten euros.
Ebru Erkunt, the woman behind Hazelheart, in the "Den of the Lions"
Source: TVNOW / Bernd-Michael Maur / Haselherz
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Is that a real innovation?
No, there are countless chocolate spreads without palm oil.
For a long time only organic markets had them on offer, but now they have also arrived in supermarkets, from brands such as Milka and Nudossi, for example.
Both the Milka and Nudossi creams contain white sugar, which is not a hazel heart.
At least when it comes to the nut content, Nudossi can absolutely keep up with 36 percent - hazel heart has 35 percent.
Do you need that? Our test result:
When we unscrewed the first glass of hazel heart, we first noticed the consistency of the cream. She didn't look as smooth as we are used to from Nudossi, for example. This was also noticeable when passing by. In return, Haselherz kept its taste promise not to be as sweet as other chocolate spreads. We found it very pleasant, but those who idolize the madly sweet Nutella will probably not be happy with hazel heart. Incidentally, the vegan hazel heart cream tasted just as good as the non-vegan one, which is perhaps still very interesting for vegans.
In addition to the taste, we were concerned with two other questions about hazel heart: Is sunflower oil really more environmentally friendly than palm oil?
And coconut blossom sugar actually healthier than white sugar?
First about sugar: Coconut blossom sugar is said to be healthier because it causes blood sugar levels to rise less quickly than white sugar.
But science has not yet confirmed this in meaningful studies.
And in terms of calorie content, coconut blossom sugar and white sugar hardly differ, so they are similarly unhealthy in this regard.
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And how about sunflower oil, is at least that better for the environment?
Yes that's true.
For the sake of completeness, however, it should also be mentioned: If sunflowers were grown to a similar extent as oil palms, this would very likely also cause environmental problems, according to experts.
As with so many foods that are marketed as “healthier” or “more sustainable”, it is at least not that easy with Hazel Heart - we therefore continue to eat the chocolate cream that we like best.
Lions den products put to the test
More information at www.haselherz.de.