Frequently Asked Questions

While our solid dark chocolate products and our Jelly Beans do not contain any dairy ingredients, they are processed on shared milk equipment and are labeled as such. The majority of the items we make use milk chocolate and we frequently have dairy ingredients around and in the same production areas as dark chocolate. Therefore, we don’t consider our solid dark chocolate products to be 100% dairy free. If you are not comfortable with shared lines, we would not recommend the products listed above.

Our SWEET TABS™ do not contain milk and are not processed on shared equipment with milk.

We run two separate kitchens in our factory. One kitchen works with ingredients containing wheat, egg, milk, and soy. The other kitchen only works with ingredients containing milk and soy. The products made in our kitchen that does not work with wheat and that would be safe for someone with a wheat allergy or celiac disease include the following:

Milk and Dark chocolate Skippers®, Jelly Beans, the majority of the products in our baking collection (Melts, Chocolate Chips [excluding butterscotch], Mini Chocolate Chips, Cocoa Powder, Unsweetened Baking Chocolate), SWEET TABS™, Milk/Dark/Crispy Mini Chocolate Bars, Milk/Dark Large Chocolate Bars, ALL our milk/dark chocolate solid shapes and pops, and our Hot Cocoa Bombs.

PLEASE NOTE: While they are solid chocolate, our Small Chocolate Bars, our Large Chocolate Bars, and our Nonpareils are NOT included in this list, as they are packaged on shared equipment with wheat.

We do make products that contain egg ingredients or are processed on shared equipment with eggs. All our flavors of fudge contain dried egg whites as an ingredient. All our boxed chocolates and chocolate barks are processed on shared egg equipment with our fudge. While we always clean and sanitize our equipment in between products, there is still a chance of cross contamination and those products will be labeled as ‘Processed on shared EGG equipment.’

However, all our solid chocolate products, in milk, dark, and crispy chocolate are made and processed in a separate kitchen that is free from egg allergens.

Our egg-free products include our chocolate bars, pops, coins, drops, baking chips, hot cocoa, melts, shapes, chocolate covered pretzels, nonpareils, Skippers®, Jelly Beans, SWEET TABS™, TANABAR® Granola Bars, and Trail Mix.

All our chocolate products contain soya lecithin (an emulsifier) as an ingredient. Our TANABAR® Granola Bars and Trail Mix contain roasted soybeans as an ingredient. Our small chocolate bars (Milk, Dark, and Crispy) are wrapped on the same flow wrapper as our TANABAR® Granola Bars and are labeled as packaged on shared equipment with milk, soy, and wheat. Our marshmallows contain soy protein as an ingredient. Therefore our Marshmallows on a Stick and our Monster Mash Bark contain soy protein.

Our facility is 100% free from coconut and sesame.

We make many treats that include sunflower as an ingredient, including our Crispy Fruit Bark, TANABAR® granola bars, Trail Mix, Sunaroos® (made only for our Fall Collection), and Sun Blossoms®.

Our Crispy Fruit Bark, Sun Blossoms®, TANABARS®, Sunaroos®, and Trail Mix are all made in our largest kitchen that works with ingredients that contain the most allergens. This large kitchen has egg, soy, milk, wheat, and sunflower allergens present. Many of our other products including all our boxed chocolates (Caramels, Truffles, Creams, Cups, & Clusters), our marshmallows on a stick, our nonpareils, all our fudges, all our barks, and all our chocolate covered pretzels are made in that room. Since we operate such a small facility, our boxed chocolates (Caramels, Truffles, Creams, Cups, & Clusters), our nonpareils, our fudges, our marshmallows on a stick, and our barks are all made on shared equipment with our products that contain sunflower.

Also, while our Small Chocolate Bars (in milk, dark, and crispy chocolate) are made in a seperate kitchen, they are wrapped on shared equipment with sunflower allergens.

The equipment is always washed and sanitized when switching between our different confections, but there is still a chance of cross contamination since they are made on the same lines.

The products that are 100% safe for someone with a sunflower allergy would be our solid chocolates (including pops, large chocolate bars, mini chocolate bars, shapes, coins, and drops), our chocolate chips (excluding Butterscotch), our melts, our cocoa powder, our Skippers®, our SWEET TABS™, our jelly beans, and our Hot Cocoa Bombs. These products are made in a completely separate, smaller kitchen within our facility, that only works with soy and milk allergens.

We are also comfortable saying that our Chocolate Covered Mini-twist Pretzels are safe for someone with a sunflower allergy. Even though they are made in the kitchen that has
sunflower allergens, because they are made on totally separate equipment, are made in their own section of the kitchen, and would never come in contact with sunflower ingredients, there is no potential risk.

All our products, with the exception of our Sweet Tabs™ and our Hot Cocoa Bombs, are Star-D Kosher Supervision Certified. Star-D is a project of the National Council of Young Israel in affiliation with Star-K Kosher certification.

Baking Products – 12 months

Caramels – 6 months

Caramel Filled Chocolates – 4 months

Chocolate Covered Mini-Twist Pretzels – 9 months

Creams – 4 months

Cream Filled Eggs – 4 months

Marshmallow Filled Eggs – 6 months

Crispy Fruit Bark – 12 months

Dark Chocolate Nonpareils – 18 months

Fancypants Crunch Cookies – 12
months

Fudge – 4 months

Hot Cocoa – 12 months

Jelly Beans – 12 months

Marshmallows on a Stick – 4 months

Monster Mash Bark – 4 months

Peppermint Crunch Bark – 9 months

Pretzel Caramel Bark – 2 months

Raisin Clusters – 12 months

Skippers® – 12 months

Smurtles® – 4 weeks

Solid Crispy Chocolate – 12 months

Solid Dark Chocolate – 18 months

Solid Milk Chocolate – 12 months

Solid White Chocolate – 12 months

Sun Blossoms® – 9 months

TANABAR Granola Bar® – 6 months

Sunaroos®– 2 months

Toffee Crunch Bark – 4 months

Trail Mix – 6 months

Truffles – 8 weeks

The creams and caramels will last for 3 to 4 months at room temperature. Any of our solid chocolate items will last for one year at room temperature.

The chocolates should be stored in your pantry away from sunlight and direct heat sources. For ultimate taste and flavor, we recommend that you order regularly and consume your chocolate within a couple of weeks of receipt.

The shelf life of truffles can be doubled by placing them in the refrigerator. They can also be frozen for up to six months. You will need to be careful about moisture if you put the chocolates in a refrigerator or freezer. We recommend wrapping the package in aluminum foil before sealing it in 2 separate closed plastic bags. When you remove the foiled double-bagged package from the refrigerator or freezer, be sure to let the whole package come to room temperature before unwrapping it.

Our Melts, which are a compound made with vegetable oils, are specifically for use at home with your own molds and would be a great option for this purpose. Feel free to make different colors by mixing the White Melts with any food coloring that you feel comfortable using.

We also offer Gourmet Chocolate Confectioner Discs in both milk and dark chocolate that are great for making your own chocolate treats. These discs are very rich in chocolate flavor. However, they do not contain hydrogenated oil and are harder to work with than our Melts. If you decide to try our Discs, we recommend reading the instructions on the product page before use.

Our Gourmet Chocolate Confectioner Discs do not contain hydrogenated oil, so they melt at a higher temperature than other melts you may have worked with before. To get a smooth consistency, you will need to melt them using a double boiler. Bring the melts to a little above 100°F and keep them at a minimum of 95°F while you work.

Work as quickly as possible with the melted chocolate and immediately (within 45-60 seconds of being off the heat) put the molds or dipped items into the refrigerator or they will bloom. You may need to work in smaller batches so you can get your chocolate into the fridge within that time.

If your chocolate is brought to melting temperate and not reset correctly, it will cause fat bloom. While this bloom does not affect the taste of your chocolate and it is still fully edible, it will cause a dull white finish on the surface and sometimes throughout the chocolate. Fat bloom also causes the chocolate to lose its satisfying snap and shine.

While these discs are better tasting and better for you, than other melting chocolate, we understand they are a bit difficult to work with. Please reach out for any additional questions or advice on how to use our Gourmet Chocolate Confectioner Discs.

We ship our products all over the world and have many mail order customers outside of the U.S.

Shipping charges for your order will be calculated and displayed at checkout. Please note that your order may be subject to import duties and taxes (including VAT), which are incurred once a shipment reaches your destination country.

Orders shipping to Canadian destinations are consolidated in our facility and transported across the border to a Canada Post depot. This keeps your shipping costs to a minimum and you do not incur any additional charges upon delivery for import duties or taxes. These trips are approximately every three to four weeks and depending on the timing of your order, it could ship anywhere from a few days within placement to a few weeks. If you need your package sooner and would like alternative international shipping methods please contact customer service for options and quotes. 

For more information about shipping, you can also visit our Shipping Policy page.

Chocolate is perishable and begins to melt at temperatures over 70°F. The inside of the delivery truck is much warmer than the outside air temperature and we want your order to arrive in excellent condition, so we handle warm weather shipping as follows:

When temperatures are at or above 70°F between Vermont and the destination of the package, an insulated styrofoam shipping container and gel pack is strongly recommended, at an additional charge of $5. We also suggest that you choose a shipping method that is 3 days or less to ensure your chocolates arrive in good condition. 

If you have items in your cart that will melt in high temperatures, you will receive a notification at checkout. If you decide to forgo the Warm Weather Shipping Container and Ice Pack, you are assuming the risk of your chocolate melting in transit and we will not refund or replace your damaged product. 

Within 30 days of purchase, if for any reason you don't completely love our gourmet products, we'll gladly offer an appropriate replacement or refund. Due to the perishable nature of our product, we do not typically accept returns. Contact our customer service department for help at customerservice@vermontnutfree.com or call us at 802-891-9856.

To review our official statement on refunds and returns, please visit our Refund Policy page.