When we heard that prestigious bean-to-bar chocolate maker To’ak had released the most expensive bar ever – costing a staggering £395 ($490) for just 1.7oz (50g) – we had to see what the fuss was about. The allure of this 78% pure cacao chocolate doesn’t just lie in the taste; the rare ingredients used, the lengthy production process and the unique packaging (which includes a specially commissioned piece of original Ecuadorian art), all add to both the appeal and exclusivity of this particular bar. But does it live up to the hype? Read on to find out what we made of it...

To’ak specialises in producing limited edition bars of single-origin dark chocolate made from the world’s rarest and most prized cacao variety, the Ecuadorian Nacional. This latest record-breaking release – part of its Masters Series  – features a bar made from a rare blend of two vintage editions of To’ak chocolate, matured for eight years. The exclusive confection is presented in a one-of-a-kind handcrafted wooden box, with packaging inspired by Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo Guayasamín. It also includes an original print by Oswaldo himself, as well as tasting utensils and a 60-page information booklet. 

To’ak sidesteps the middle man and sources its cacao from Ecuador’s Piedra de Plata valley, purchasing directly from a small group of growers, who are paid some of the highest prices in the industry – anywhere between 270% and 820% above the industry standard. Another reason for the high cost of its chocolate? Each bar contains an extremely rare cocoa bean from a pure, DNA-tested Nacional heirloom cacao tree. Of course, the exquisite, limited-edition packaging also adds to the value.

To’ak’s founders set the company up in a bid to shatter the 20th century perception of chocolate as candy with a cheap price tag, instead drawing on its historic origins as a sacred delicacy reserved for warriors and royalty. Company director Jerry Toth says To’ak prides itself on making chocolate ‘the way a winemaker makes wine and the way an artist produces art’. This approach demands impeccable cacao sourcing, and sees To'ak using a pioneering ‘chocolate aging process’, similar to the barrel aging of whisky. The packaging, too, is highly intricate to reflect the quality of the contents. When all this is taken into consideration, the hefty price tag begins to make more sense.

So, with all that in mind, what does the priciest chocolate bar ever made taste like? In a word, exquisite. The bar is perfectly balanced, with none of the sharp bitterness you sometimes get with high cacao content chocolate. It’s complex and intense, but also highly pleasurable, with initial hints of buttery caramel leading into notes of honey and rich plum. The lengthy aging process adds a subtle smokiness that really takes it to another level. 

The entire tasting ‘process’ is a real experience too, almost like a tea ceremony; the box contains a beautiful tasting plate and wooden utensil, along with detailed instructions on how to get the most out of sampling the chocolate. Given the cost, it might well be one for true chocolate connoisseurs only, but for those who can afford it, a delectable adventure awaits.

Read on to discover more of the world’s most expensive foods, from green tea to white truffles.

The occasional indulgence is one thing, but these unbelievably expensive foods take luxury to a whole new level. From a burger that costs thousands to ultra-rare truffles sniffed out by trained pigs and butter that only top chefs are allowed to buy, these are the most expensive foods in the world.

All dollar amounts are USD, unless otherwise specified.

It was Michelin-starred chef Thomas Keller who put this (very) small-batch butter on the map. The man behind California’s The French Laundry tried it – and asked its producer, Diane St. Clair, to send him all of it. The creamery is now under new ownership and supplies a handful of exclusive restaurants. Otherwise, the yolk-yellow butter is only on general sale once a year. It costs a whopping £89 ($110) for 2.2lbs (1kg), but always sells out.

If you fancy a bite of The Golden Boy, you’ll need to order at least a fortnight in advance and pay a deposit of around £650 ($805). Then you’ll have to find the rest of the £4,300 ($5,323) this record-breaking burger costs. It is, unsurprisingly, the world’s most expensive burger, made at Dutch restaurant De Daltons using lots of super-pricey ingredients: jamón Ibérico, white truffle, beluga caviar, king crab and kopi luwak coffee. The bun’s dough is infused with Dom Pérignon, and the whole thing comes topped with gold leaf.

At £6.50 ($8.05) for an 8.5fl oz (250ml) bottle, mares’ milk from Cromwell Farm in Somerset, England is more than 40 times the price of regular cows’ milk. At current exchange rates, it’s believed to be the world’s most expensive milk – costing slightly more than Japan’s Nakazawa milk, which is famously collected once a week at dawn. The mares’ milk comes from horses free to roam in wildflower-strewn pastures, and is said to be low fat and easier to digest than cows’ milk.

This ultra-premium extra virgin olive oil from Greece is renowned for its distinct fruit flavour and low acidity. It's made from Koroneiki olives, which are pressed the very same day as they are picked to better retain their intense fresh and fruity qualities. A 17fl oz (500ml) bottle will cost you around £60 ($74), while bespoke creations can cost a staggering £9,500 (around $11,760).

Beef from Wagyu cattle is prized for its rich flavour and tender texture, and it's one luxury that many people are willing to splash out on. You’ll find various varieties of Wagyu – like Kobe, raised in the Hyogo region of Japan – in steakhouses, sushi restaurants and at specialist butchers around the world. High-grade Wagyu can cost up to £380 ($470) for 2.2lbs (1kg), and the rarest steak in the world, olive Wagyu, can be as much as £260 ($322) for just one steak.

Fugu is a delicacy in Japan, but parts of the unusual-looking fish, also known as a blowfish or pufferfish, are extremely poisonous, so only highly trained, licensed chefs are allowed to prepare and serve it. Fugu is banned within the European Union but is available in the US, South Korea and Japan. In the latter, it typically sells for around £160 ($198) per 2.2lbs (1kg) at auction.

High in antioxidants and caffeine, matcha green tea powder is finely ground and can be used in a variety of bakes and fresh juices. It also adds a complex, earthy sweetness to ice cream and other desserts. You can expect to pay as much as £230 ($285) per 2.2lbs (1kg) for ceremonial grade matcha green tea powder.

Pure vanilla is second only to saffron when it comes to the priciest spices by weight. Madagascar, Mexico and Indonesia are the largest producers of this sought-after ingredient. Growing and harvesting is very labour-intensive, as the vanilla flowers have to be hand-pollinated, and the fruit must be hand-picked once ripe. You can expect to pay around £224 ($277) for 2.2lbs (1kg) of Madagascan vanilla beans.

Even though abalones can be caught in many places around the world, it's a very complicated process. These molluscs are also extremely endangered, so some countries impose a strict limit on how many fishing crews can catch per day. Renowned for their delicious meat, these sea snails are some of the most expensive shellfish you can eat, costing as much as £435 ($539) per 2.2lbs (1kg). Due to the heavy shell protecting the edible part, that translates to just under 9oz (250g) of the actual meat.

The most expensive ham in the world comes from Iberian hogs, which devour around 15lbs (7kg) of acorns every day. Once butchered, jamón Ibérico is hung for at least two years, resulting in a dark red meat that’s sweet, nutty and melt-in-your-mouth tender. You can expect to pay as much as £3,900 ($4,829) for around 18lbs (8kg) of bone-in jamón Ibérico de bellota.

It may come at a price, but honey from bees that pollinate manuka bushes is believed to cure everything from sore throats to superbugs. A word of caution: make sure you’re getting the real deal. Look for a UMF (Unique Manuka Factor) rating of 10+ or more on the label. Manuka honey of the highest grade can be sold for as much as £400 ($495) per 2.2lbs (1kg).

You might not think of potatoes as a luxury food, but these posh spuds can be sold for as much as £430 ($533) for 2.2lbs (1kg). La Bonnotte potatoes grow only in the mineral-rich soil of small French island Noirmoutier, and are in season for around a week in early May. They're harvested by hand three months after planting, and have a distinctive salty, lemony flavour that's said to pair well with another pricey product: caviar.

Ayam Cemani chickens (an unusual Indonesian breed) are completely black, from their feathers to their muscles, organs and even blood. Believed to have magical powers, their meat is said to bring good fortune and cure various illnesses. The chickens are highly sought after in Indonesia and elsewhere, with unsexed chicks typically selling for around £175 ($217). Breeding pairs are known to go for as much as £4,300 ($5,325).

These green tips of the hop plant aren't used by brewers, but a growing status as a cult ingredient has given them a serious price tag. Just 2.2lbs (1kg) of these shoots can cost more than £700 ($867), making them the most expensive vegetable in the world. It's the way they're harvested that makes them so pricey. Hop plants don't grow in uniform rows, which makes for very lengthy and labour-intensive picking. While the raw product tastes a bit like nettles and is very astringent, when cooked the shoots become slightly nutty, and have a similar texture to samphire.

Kopi luwak is collected from the droppings of wild civet cats that prowl Indonesian coffee plantations at night, feasting on ripe coffee cherries. The cats can’t digest the beans, so workers collect their precious droppings, which are then washed, pounded, dried and roasted. Often touted as the rarest and most expensive coffee in the world, kopi luwak is not without controversy; some farmers keep the civets in appalling conditions in a bid to attract tourists, who shell out as much as £1040 ($1288) for 2.2lbs (1kg) of the coffee.

A creamy smoked white cheese from Serbia, this delicacy can be sold for as much as £1000 ($1238) per 2.2lbs (1kg). It's made from the milk of endangered Balkan donkeys in a sanctuary in Zasavica, with the profits going back into the reserve. It takes 25 litres (44 pints) of donkey milk to make 2.2lbs (1kg) of the cheese. 

The world's most prized watermelon, the Densuke is a black-skinned variety that's grown in Japan. Densuke plants are rare, and each one produces a relatively small number of fruits – meaning only about 70,000 watermelons were available to buy in 2016. Grown in Toma on the island of Hokkaido, the intensely sweet and crunchy watermelons weigh around 8lbs (3.6kg) per fruit, and just one can fetch anything from £215 ($266) to £5,200 ($6,440).

Matsutake mushrooms (or mattake for short) are facing extinction in Japan’s Okinawa region due to an increase in nematodes in the soil, which can kill the pine trees these mushrooms grow under. The quantity of mattake harvested has fallen sharply in recent years, hiking up the price of the delicacy even more. Still, there are plenty of people willing to shell out around £1,900 ($2,353) per 2.2lbs (1kg) for the highest-grade mushrooms, which are associated with longevity and considered to be an important symbol of Japan's changing seasons.

Thought to have originated in Ethiopia, Geisha coffee was discovered in the 1930s and later grown in Panama. The coffee gained global attention in 2004 when its aromatic and floral flavour achieved the highest score in the Best of Panama coffee contest. It's been breaking its own records ever since, fetching its highest-ever price in 2019, when just 1lb (450g) of unroasted Geisha fetched £890 ($1,102).

Used in bird's nest soup, swiftlet nests are notoriously expensive – and controversial. Made by cave swiftlets, which bind moss, seaweed and feathers with their saliva, the nests can sell for as much as £3,465 ($4,290) per 2.2lbs (1kg) – the equivalent of around 120 nests. Unethical practices carried out by irresponsible farmers have prompted import restrictions and regulations from governing bodies in countries such as China, who have also introduced strict rules to improve the safety and traceability of the goods.

Pure beluga caviar is extremely rare, commanding huge prices whenever it’s available. It’s a delicacy of salt-cured fish eggs, harvested from sturgeon living in the Caspian, Adriatic and Black Seas. Wild fishing of sturgeon is now banned due to over-fishing and unsustainable harvests, so most beluga caviar available now is sourced from caviar farms. Small 3.5oz (100g) pots of 000 grade royal beluga caviar sell for as much as £495 ($613).

The world's most expensive spice, saffron is mainly grown in Iran, which produces more than 90% of the global demand. Each crocus sativus flower produces about three red stigmas. It takes 50,000-75,000 flowers, and 40 hours of hand-picking to produce just 1lb (450g) of saffron, which can sell for around £3,200 ($3,963).

The Italian city of Modena is famous for many things, from sports cars to medieval history, but its most prized export is aceto balsamico di Modena – balsamic vinegar. Various Modena balsamic vinegars are available at most supermarkets, though the priciest is Giuseppe Giusti’s 100-year-old balsamic vinegar. It's aged in cherry wood barrels and distilled to perfection according to traditions passed down through generations of vinegar specialists. A 3.5fl oz (100ml) bottle of this vinegar can cost as much as £640 ($793).

Alba white truffles are a gourmet delight found in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, and their high price, currrently around £800 ($991) per 3.5oz (100g), is due to their unpredictable growth habits. They're usually in season between October and January, but no one has been able to domesticate them – meaning trained dogs and pigs are required to sniff them out.

Atlantic bluefin tuna, which is known for its tender pinkish-red meat, is often used in sushi and sashimi. Although the fish is now listed as an endangered species, it's still extremely sought after. In 2020, a 608lb (276kg) tuna was sold for £1.45 million ($1.8 million) to sushi tycoon Kiyoshi Kimura at an auction in Tokyo's Toyosu fish market. It was the second highest-ever price paid for bluefin tuna (after Kimura's £2.5 million ($3.1 million) purchase the previous year).

Officially recognised by Guinness World Records as the most expensive caviar in the world, 2.2lbs (1kg) of Almas caviar can cost upwards of £20,000 ($24,799). It comes from rare albino sturgeons, or Iranian beluga. These fish, which live in the clear waters of the southern Caspian Sea, are between 60-100 years old, and produce golden yellow eggs that are prized for their exquisite flavour.

Juicy and sweet, Japanese Yubari King melons are hybrids of two varieties of more reasonably priced cantaloupes. Sold in pairs, and weighing around 2.9lbs (1.3kg) each, they’re considered a lavish gift in Japan, where they fetched a whopping £21,500 ($26,660) at auction in 2017. Their usual price is around £70 ($87) per melon.

Edible gold is one of the most expensive culinary indulgences around. Like calcium and iron, gold is a mineral that’s safe to eat, and it's often sprinkled into glasses of Champagne or layered onto cakes for elaborate decoration. Made from 23- or 24-carat gold, it’s available in the form of dust, flakes and leaves. It costs around £29 ($36) per 100mg, which equates to around £290,000 ($359,599) per 2.2lbs (1kg). 

A dark oolong tea that grows only in the rocky soil of China's Wuyi Mountains, Da Hong Pao has a robust sweetness, with lingering woody notes that make it particularly sought after. While reasonably good-quality tea that's not from original trees can be bought for around £86 ($107) for 2.2lbs (1kg), aged and antique versions can reach eye-watering prices. Back in 2002, a collector was willing to shell out £19,917 ($24,689) for just 0.7oz (20g) of tea from one of the original Da Hong Pao mother trees.

Produced in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, top-quality Ruby Roman grapes grow to the size of ping-pong balls, and are extremely rare. Some years, only one bunch meets the premium-class standard. In 2018, the record for the most expensive bunch of grapes was broken as 24 Ruby Roman grapes sold for £8,800 ($10,908).

Food fakes: now read about the world's most forged ingredients