About Us
We believe chocolate should help everyone thrive.
That's why our chocolate is more than sustainable.
It's regenerative.
FAQ
Have questions? We have answers. Not finding what you want to know? Contact us!
Online Orders
We ship to all states in the continental US, along with Hawaii and Alaska. Unfortunately, Alter Eco does not offer international shipping at this time.
Once your order has been processed and your credit card has been charged, we are unable to make any changes. Please make sure to double check your shipping address and cart contents before confirming your purchase!
All food items are non-returnable, but if an item arrives damaged or defective, you may request a refund or replacement within 10 days of delivery. Note that we may require images for documentation purposes and to analyze future processes for shipping during summer months.
We ship our orders Monday – Wednesday, excluding major holidays. Most orders ship within two to four business days. We are currently experiencing high order volumes and orders may take additional time to process. We will notify you with a tracking number when it has shipped, and packages typically arrive within two-days of shipment.
We are unable to ship to P.O. Boxes at this time. We use UPS for most shipments and alternate delivery arrangements can be organized with the carrier.
Please contact us at shop@alterecofoods.com or by replying to your delivery confirmation email. Our customer support team will be more than happy to assist you with this inconvenience. Please note that in order to investigate the issue fully, the tracking information must indicate that the shipment was delivered within the past 10 days. If you follow-up more than 10 days after scheduled delivery, we may be unable to resolve your claim.
Alter Eco offers free standard shipping on all orders over $85 after discounts. Exceptions apply to Alaska and Hawaii as Express Delivery fees still apply due to extreme weather and transit times. Taxes do not attribute to the minimum purchase requirement.
We ship all orders containing chocolate with ice packs during the summer months and in select states (AZ, FL, HI, TX)year-round. We make every effort to ensure your order arrives in perfect condition. If you experience an issue with your order, please email us at shop@alterecofoods.com.
Subscriptions
Subscribers save 15% OFF each recuring order. When adding a subscription product to your cart, slect the frequency you'd like - every 1, 2, 3, or 4 months. You can cancel or update your month-to-month subscription order at any time (as long as it is at least 24 hours before your order is set to refill - otherwise the change will apply to the next month’s order).
You can change your shipping information by logging into your Alter Eco account and selecting 'Manage Your Subscriptions'. Keep in mind that you must do this at least 24 hours before your order is set to be shipped. Or you can reach out to us at shop@alterecofoods.com.
Yes! You can do this by logging into your Alter Eco account and selecting 'Manage Your Subscriptions'. Or you can reach out to us at shop@alterecofoods.com. Keep in mind that you must do this at least 24 hours before your order is set to be shipped.
Yes, you can cancel or pause your chocolate subscription at any time as long as you do so at least 24 hours before your next order is set to be shipped. You can make changes to your subscription by logging into your Alter Eco account and selecting 'Manage Your Subscriptions'. Or you can reach out to us at shop@alterecofoods.com.
We always send a reminder email in advance of your next subscription order to prevent this from happening! Once your subscription renewal has been processed, unfortunately we can no longer cancel the order and your credit card will be charged.
If you have created a subscription, log into your Alter Eco account and select the 'Add to My Order' button while browsing your favorite products. Subscription add-ons include 15% off, a perk of being a subscriber! Just be sure to add your extra items at least 24hrs before your subscription renews. You must have an active subscription for the discount to be applied.
Product Information
All ingredients that can be certified Fair Trade, are. There is currently no international fair trade standard regarding milk, sea salt and a few other ingredients that we source. In this case, we work closely with our chocolatiers to ensure these ingredients are sourced from sustainable suppliers.
Yes! Our truffle wrappers are backyard and commercially compostable! They are mostly derived from eucalyptus and birch.
We have committed to using either recyclable or compostable packaging for 100% of our products by December 2020...and we’re almost there. Our Chocolate Bars are wrapped in recyclable aluminum foil and FSC Certified paper. In early 2019, we transitioned our Chocolate Truffles from a non-recyclable plastic pouch to a recyclable paper box.
Plastic waste is an issue that touches us all, and something we are ALL responsible for. Alter Eco remains committed to sustainability in every aspect of our production and is working hard to develop sustainable packaging alternatives to protect our planet. Learn more about our packaging journey here.
Alter Eco uses high quality milk sourced from USDA Certified and Swiss Certified Organic, open pastured, grass fed cows in the alpine valleys of central Switzerland, near Lucerne. The cows are located on 30 small-scale farms with approximately 35 cows per farm. The majority of what the cows eat is grown directly on the land for a low-input approach to dairy farming. The cows do not belong to Alter Eco, but we visit them and know their names!
To learn more about grass fed milk, click here.
Nutritional Information
You can find the nutritional panel on the individual product page. The ingredients and nutrition facts are listed at the bottom of each product's description. Clicking either "Ingredients" or "Nutrition Facts" will display the information.
DISCLAIMER: Actual product packaging and materials may contain additional and/or different ingredient, nutritional, or proper usage information than the information displayed on our website. If you have food sensitivities or allergies, you should always read the actual product labels to confirm the safety of the product for your situation.
Our natural flavors are made with plant extracts, which contain no regulated allergens, GMOs, or artificial flavors. The natural flavor is extracted from spices, fruits, fruit juices, vegetables, vegetable juices, herb, bark, buds, roots or leaves.
Our chocolate bar process does not require alkali (the Dutch process). We use the traditional Swiss method.
Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, contains a small quantity of caffeine and also theobromine, another stimulant. The darker the bar, the more caffeine and theobromine it contains.
We estimate that our chocolate contains between 15 and 50mg of caffeine per serving of chocolate (40g). As a comparison, drip coffee contains between 140 and 190mg of caffeine per serving (1 cup).
Cacao beans also contain theobromine, which is very close to caffeine in term of chemical structure. Theobromine is considered less stimulating than caffeine.
We currently don’t process our chocolate to remove caffeine or theobromine as this would affect the quality of our product.
Cadmium and lead are elements that are present naturally in the environment, and when absorbed by crops, can be found in food products. Trace levels can be found in chocolate as well as other agricultural products like legumes, seed pods, grains, and some leafy vegetables. These elements (in addition to other beneficial minerals) are absorbed naturally from the soil by the roots of cocoa trees, and are thus a natural constituent of pods, beans, and eventually the finished product. Volcanic soils have higher levels of cadmium than other soils, and volcanic soil is more common in the regions where we source our cocoa beans from.
Alter Eco is attentive to and compliant with standards applicable to its products in various markets. Because of the types of products we sell, Alter Eco is regulated in the United States by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA), which has not established limits or provided guidance on the topic of heavy metals in food at this time. Because of this, we have invested a lot of time and energy to research other points of reference used around the world by, for example, the European Union and the World Health Organization, and our products are meeting these standards.
We at Alter Eco stand strongly behind the quality and safety of our products, and we consume our own products frequently! We work very hard, along with our suppliers, manufacturers and distributors, to ensure that all food safety management systems, like ISO 22000 and Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP), are implemented and carefully followed.
Allergen Information
Some of our products contain grass-fed dairy, coming from heritage pasture raised cows, allowing grass to grow back and the soil to regenerate. All of our truffles and Nut Butter Bombs contain dairy, along with a select number of bars.
Our chocolatier produces our chocolate on equipment shared with tree nuts, milk, and soy. Equipment is carefully cleaned between every production run.
You may find a complete list of our plant-based products HERE.
Currently, the milk in our truffles (present as either organic milk powder or organic butterfat) is a key ingredient for the creamy filling.
Currently, all of our chocolate products are made in a peanut free facility and there is no possible cross-contamination with peanuts. We do use some tree nuts in our products, such as almonds.
Our granola is produced in a facility that uses peanuts and tree nuts. The packaging on our Granola products states: May contain other tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, milk, and soy. Individuals who are allergic to these should not consume this product.
We do not use soy ingredients in our products, including soy protein and soy lecithin. However, our chocolatier produces our chocolate on equipment shared with soy, tree nuts, and milk. Equipment is carefully cleaned between every production run.
All of our chocolate bars (except Dark Salt & Malt), truffles, nut butter bombs, and quinoa are Gluten Free Certified, which means that they have been tested and contain less than 10 ppm of gluten.
Our 70% Dark Salt & Malt bar and Granola products do contain gluten. Our products are certified by the Gluten-Free Food Program (GFFP).
For more information, please visit https://gf-finder.com/gluten-free-products/alter-eco-americas-inc/
To address cross contamination, we have a strict sanitation policy accompanied by product surface testing to ensure there are no residual allergens present. The lines are thoroughly cleaned between each production run and the allergens are separately handled in the facility to avoid cross contamination. In addition, the facility is audited against the British Retail Consortiums “Global Food Standard” and consistently certified as a Grade A (the highest level attainable). However, we cannot guarantee the total absence of allergens in the chocolate.
An understandable misperception is that “dark” means “no milk”. Dark chocolate will generally have a higher percentage of cocoa and can range from 30% to 90% in cocoa make-up.
Because we follow the Swiss regulation when it comes to naming conventions, those bars are indeed dark chocolate, not milk chocolate.