Chocolate-Coated Orange — 65% Dark, BALAVA Da Lat
Product code (SKU) : BALAVA-orange
$6.66
Da Lat dried fruit coated in 65% dark chocolate made from Lam Dong cacao. Two specialities of the same highland, in one piece.
Slices of orange dried to a supple texture, keeping their clean sweetness and light acidity, coated in 65% dark chocolate. The acidity cuts the fat of the cocoa butter, so the piece reads bright rather than heavy.
Fruit carries a high load of natural organic acids such as malic and citric acid. Those acids cut through the fat of cocoa butter, which is why a coated piece reads clean and bright even though you have just eaten a mouthful of fat and sugar. Neither ingredient produces that effect alone.
The second factor is timing. Cocoa butter melts at about 33.8°C, almost exactly mouth temperature, so the coating collapses on contact and releases its aromatics at the precise moment the sweet-sour of the fruit registers. That synchronisation is why the pairing feels finished rather than merely adjacent.
A technical consequence. Because the fruit acid does the cutting, the best coating is chocolate that has not had its own acidity stripped out. BALAVA chocolate uses no substitute fats and keeps the bean’s natural acidity, so it meets the fruit halfway.
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Product | Orange coated in chocolate |
| Coating | 65% dark chocolate from Lam Dong cacao |
| Fat | Pure cocoa butter — no substitute fats |
| Preservatives | None used |
| Storage | Cool, dry, out of sun and heat. Reseal after opening |
| Note | Because it contains fruit, shelf life is shorter than a plain tablet — eat soon after opening |
| Produced in | Da Lat, Lam Dong, Vietnam |
| Brand | BALAVA Chocolate |
This is a snack that sits well with tea and coffee, and a souvenir that is genuinely of Da Lat — clear provenance, a story to tell, and nothing like what is on sale at the airport. For international visitors it is usually the item that goes home in the suitcase, because it is light, compact and unfamiliar.
Independently tested at a laboratory accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. Report no. 25121127/KQKN.
| Food safety establishment licence | No. 94/2025/ATTP-CNĐK, issued 2 June 2025 by the Lam Dong Sub-Department of Food Hygiene and Safety |
| ISO 22000:2018 | No. GOODVNA17825.FSMS, issued 4 December 2025 by Good Vietnam National Certification JSC |
| HACCP | No. GOODVNA17825.HACCP, issued 4 December 2025 by Good Vietnam National Certification JSC |
| Manufacturer | BALAVA Co., Ltd, tax code 5801491510, Bi Doup road, Lang Biang ward, Da Lat, Lam Dong |
| Parameter | Result |
|---|---|
| Energy | 379 kcal |
| Total fat | 13.1 g |
| Protein | 2.35 g |
| Carbohydrate | 62.9 g |
| of which total sugars | 44.4 g |
| Sodium | 125 mg |
| Parameter | Result | Declared maximum |
|---|---|---|
| Lead (Pb) | ND (LOD 0.006) | 2.0 |
| Cadmium (Cd) | ND (LOD 0.006) | 1.0 |
| Mercury (Hg) | ND (LOD 0.006) | 0.05 |
| Arsenic (As) | ND (LOD 0.006) | 1.0 |
| Aflatoxin B1 | ND (LOD 0.4) µg/kg | — |
| Total aflatoxins | ND (LOD 0.4) µg/kg | 4 µg/kg |
| Total aerobic count | < 10 CFU/g | 10⁴ |
| Coliforms | < 10 CFU/g | 10 |
| E. coli | Not detected | 3 |
| Yeasts and moulds | < 10 CFU/g | 10² |
Every heavy metal result sits several times below the maximum BALAVA declares under Vietnam’s QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT. Aflatoxins were not detected, E. coli was not detected, and all remaining microbiological parameters pass.
Results are valid only for the sample tested. The declared maximum is the level BALAVA states in its official product self-declaration, applying QCVN 8-2:2011/BYT on heavy metal contaminant limits in food. ND: not detected. LOD: limit of detection. LOQ: limit of quantification. Full test reports and self-declarations are available on request.
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