Junglegold Bali (formerly Pod Chocolate) is the world’s first plant-based chocolate factory, making home-grown chocolate since 2010. It’s hard to miss their factory on the main road, Jalan Denpasar-Singaraja, with a grand thatched roof at its entrance. Junglegold Bali is a proud Bali chocolatier. Their chocolate is sourced exclusively from Balinese farmers and wrapped in beautiful packaging inspired by Balinese art.
The Tour
A guide greeted us barely after we stepped out of the car. We had to wash our hands at the sinks outside the front doors before we could head inside. There weren’t many other visitors around, so we got a tour guide for just the two of us.
There is no admission price to visit the Junglegold Bali Chocolate Factory. The tour is free. The only cost involved with visiting this attraction is any chocolate you buy from the shop. Most tourists probably have had to make a long drive to get here, so there is a toilet at the factory that visitors can use. The facilities were clean, with a sitting toilet and paper.
The tour only lasts five minutes as the guide takes you through the small L-shaped public space. There’s no groundbreaking information on the tour. The guide talked about what makes Junglegold Bali different, including ethical cocoa farming and using non-dairy sources in their chocolate. Their chocolate is plant-based so everyone can enjoy it, like the lactose-intolerant. We got to peek at their machinery through the first window. The second window had workers preparing the different chocolate flavours and pouring them into the bar moulds.
The Chocolate Shop & Cafe
Once the tour is over, the guide will escort you to the chocolate shop. You don’t have to go right away, though. We took some extra time to watch the chocolate making and read the information on the walls before heading to the shop.
Junglegold chocolate is not hard to find around Bali. You’ll find this chocolate all over tourist gift shops and at the airport. The price is better at this factory, and every variety is available. It’s better to buy it here if you want some.
At the Junglegold Bali Chocolate shop, we could sample enough chocolate to make us sick. Guests can wander around the shop unmonitored, so we took seconds (and thirds!) of whatever chocolate we liked without a guide hovering around and giving us the stink eye. There were samples of all of the chocolates and all of the flavours. There’s also a cafe in the shop with coffee and chocolate pastries.
There are three walls of chocolate where the bars are organized into different categories. Currently, each 100g bar costs Rp. 59,000. Junglegold Bali has also assembled gift packs of various sizes if you can’t decide which flavour to buy. The twelve flavours are:
Dark Chocolate
- Sea Salt & Cocoa Nibs
- Fruit & Nut
- Orange
- Peppermint
Creamy Chocolate
- Caramel Crunch
- Coconut
- Cookies & Cream
- Cafe Mocha
Bali Chocolate
- Bali Creamy
- Bali 64% Cocoa
- Bali 80% Cocoa
- Bali 100% Cocoa
Chocolate spreads and baking chocolate pods are some of the other goods for sale. The chocolate-covered nuts and rosella balls were quite tasty, but the price seemed too much for such a small package (around Rp. 45,000). We only bought one bar of Bali Creamy, which is Junglegold Bali’s “milk” chocolate. Mark is lactose-intolerant, so it was a rare treat for him. It amazingly tasted like regular milk chocolate even though there’s no dairy in it.
Saturday Worthy?
The Junglegold Bali Chocolate Factory is barely an attraction. It’s more like a chocolate shop where they happen to make the chocolate on-site. If you didn’t rent a scooter, I would only recommend stopping here if you’re on the way to another attraction. The factory is roughly 17km west of Ubud. If you’re travelling all that way just to visit this place, you’ll spend more time on the road than at the factory, especially if you don’t stop at the cafe. Junglegold Bali’s chocolate flavours aren’t especially unique either, but this chocolate would be a good gift for any vegan friends.
Junglegold Bali Chocolate Factory & Cafe
Address: No.29, Jalan Denpasar-Singaraja, Werdi Bhuwana, Kecamatan Mengwi, Kabupaten Badung, Bali 80351, Indonesia
Opening Hours: Daily, 8am – 9pm
