If you’re anything like us, you’ll agree that chocolates trump flowers every time when it comes to grand gestures of the loving kind (unless, of course, you can have both). We’re talking anniversaries, birthdays, Mother’s/Father’s Days, “I’m sorry” gestures, or those rarer random displays of gratitude for the objects of our desire (The Notebook has clearly ruined us).

Thankfully for the shy or tongue-tied, iconic Italian chocolatier Baci Perugina has taken the hard work out of crafting that special love letter while delivering in the delicious chocolate stakes at the same time. Every Bacio Perugina ‘kiss’ – with its fine dark couverture chocolate coating around a creamy gianduja and crunchy whole hazelnut filling – comes with an extra gift: a hidden love note in the wrapper.

The story goes that in 1922 in the medieval Italian city of Perugia, a young chocolate maker by the name of Luisa Spagnoli crafted a special bonbon for her beloved, naming it cazzotto (punch) because of its fist-like shape. She wrapped it in a billet-doux, the love note that still features in every Bacio Perugina today. The only thing that’s changed is its name (‘fist’ didn’t quite do the love-filled confections justice).

And not much has changed; it’s still the same indulgent chocolate nestled in the loving words of the world’s greatest philosophers and classical authors.

We’re not surprised they’ve been spreading all this savoir faire since 1930; after all, Italy is also the birthplace of Saint Valentine and Romeo and Juliet.

The chocolates themselves feature only eight natural ingredients (no artificial nasties in sight), are gluten-free and made from sustainably sourced cocoa.

So the next time you’re struggling to show your love, you know who to turn to.