FAQ

+ Where did the name “Oodaalolly” come from?

Some companies have enormous budgets and hire consultants who engage focus groups to study what a certain name will evoke in potential customers.

Our focus group was Hernan’s son, Paolo.

Read All About it HERE

+ Does Oodaalolly have a mission?

Oodaalolly’s mission is to bring more smiles into the world by making the best tasting Filipino chocolates we can.

Oodaalolly focuses exclusively on using ingredients from the Philippines. We source directly from small cacao co-ops in the southern Davao region. Using these hand-selected beans, we create a unique and delicious Philippine chocolate with Swiss technique smoothness that is both innovative and sustainable.

+ Why is Oodaalolly headquartered in San Francisco?

It's a good question.

Competition is fierce in this city. And food entrepreneurs in the Bay Area are a talented bunch. It's also one of the most expensive places in the United States to live, let alone start a craft food business.

Like our ingredients, the answer is simple: I love it here.

I love the vibrance of the thriving Bay Area Philippine community. I love the openness to new ideas and being surrounded by talented people.

With the level of talent that exists here, if you can rise to the top, it says something about what you're making. There is a fantastic start-up culture in the Bay Area, and craft food is no exception. A fabulous new food business is started in San Francisco almost every day. And with San Francisco famously being a city of discriminating foodies, just as many of those businesses close down just as quickly.

If you can make it here, and all apologies to New York, you can make it anywhere. Especially in craft food. We've been here since 2017 and intend to stick around.

And also that view.

+ Where do you get your beans?

We procure our cacao from a small grower co-op in Davao, in the South East Philippines. The cacao we use is the highest quality and grown sustainably, organically, and ethically.

+ Are your ingredients organic?

Yes. Some can bear the “certified organic” label, and some cannot. Since not every ingredient is certified organic, we cannot place that label on our chocolate.

Though we are not certified organic, our beans can be traced back to their origin. We would like to be able to use an organic label on our products, but at this time, it isn’t feasible.

Here’s why.

We purchase our beans from a small co-op, and each grower would have to get their crop certified. In the Philippines, organic certification costs around 3,000 USD / 150,000 PHP, annually. That is a significant sum, no matter where you live.

If our sales grow enough where we can work with each grower to help defray certification costs, we certainly will.

Want to speed this process up? Buy some of our chocolate and tell your friends to buy some as well!

+ Are You Fair Trade?

We cannot certify our chocolate as Fair Trade. But Oodaalolly sees our growers as partners. We pay above Fair Trade prices for the beans we buy. We pay the people who grow our cacao more per pound than large companies who buy tons of cacao, even when you figure for the differences in scale.

We buy direct from a grower run co-op. We have visited the co-op, and have visited the farms, we have met the people on the ground who actually harvest the cacao pods and process the beans. We try to have this direct contact both so we can ensure they get a fair price (we pay many times the Fair Trade price), and can also give feedback on quality.

+ Can we visit your factory?

Right now, we aren’t equipped to handle visitors. We really, really want to be, but for now, we just want to concentrate on making memorable chocolate that tastes great.

+ I’m a pastry chef. Do you sell chocolate in bulk?

We do offer bulk purchase of our chocolate to select customers.

We sell to chefs, hotels, and restaurants so their chocolatiers can use our Oodaalolly for confections. If you are interested in a bulk purchase for your confectionary needs, [please use our contact form][1], and we’ll be sure to get back to you.

+ I’m located outside the United States. Do you ship internationally?

We never say never, but contact us first.

Transit times can be tricky and very expensive to coordinate when shipping internationally, and we want you to be aware of the possible costs involved.

+ Where can I buy your chocolate?

Look straight up and click on "shop" to visit our “direct to you” web store. We are available in select retail locations. If you would like to see us in your favorite local retailer, tag them on social media or send them a note! We'd love to explore new vendor opportunities.

+ I am a CPG buyer and would like my store to carry your chocolate. Who do I talk to?

Contact us!

We’ll be in touch with wholesale pricing, tear sheets, etc.
[1]: https://www.oodaalolly.com/contact

+ Why is your shipping so expensive?

We know. We’re working on it. It is expensive, but we make no profit from it, quite the opposite.

When you place an order, we want to get it to you as quickly as possible. Chocolate has a reasonably stable shelf-life, but it can melt. It’s one of the reasons we use 2-day shipping, which is the least expensive rapid way to get you your order.

Oodaalolly is a small company, for now. So the good news is that as our volumes increase and we make more sales, we’ll be able to get shipping discounts from various courier companies.

As a way of thanking you for your understanding, here is a voucher code for free USPS shipping when you spend over $75. The coupon code is “UCPS” - for Oodaalolly Chocolate Postal Service.

+ How do you ship chocolate in the summer?

Very carefully and at our discretion.

We do everything we can to ensure that our chocolate arrives safely during the warmer months. As you know, chocolate is heat-sensitive, so ideally, we want to get it to you fast.

To that end, we avoid weekend shipping. If it’s sweltering, we may defer shipment or use an insulated box to ensure your chocolate arrives safely.

More details on our shipping policies can be found on our dedicated shipping page.

+ How long does chocolate last?

Chocolate has a reasonably long shelf life.

Our pure dark chocolates, tablea, and cacao nibs have an 18-month shelf life from their manufacture date. Our dark milk chocolates and any chocolate with an inclusion (like nuts or fruits) have a 12-month shelf life from their manufacture date.

+ How should I store my chocolate?

The best place to store chocolate is in your belly.

The second best place to store chocolate is in a cool, dry, dark place, with a consistent temperature around 60 to 70ºF.