Our story
A stubborn conviction
That most boxed chocolate is a disappointment dressed up in a ribbon, and that it does not have to be.
We started in 2016 in a rented commercial kitchen with one second-hand tempering machine, a marble slab that was too small, and a list of people who had agreed to buy a box at Christmas. There were about forty of them. We made forty boxes.
Why we make so little
Almost everything sold as artisan chocolate is made somewhere else in enormous quantity and finished, or simply boxed, by the company whose name is on the lid. That is not a scandal; it is just how the industry works, and some of it tastes perfectly good.
But it produces a particular kind of sameness. Ganache made to survive a six-month supply chain has to be stabilised. Caramel cooked to a schedule has to be cooked conservatively. The result is confectionery that is pleasant and forgettable.
We decided to work the other way round: make small amounts, sell them quickly, and accept the ceiling that puts on the business. Our truffles are best inside three weeks because they are cream and chocolate and nothing else.
What that means when you order. We make your box after you place the order, which is why we dispatch in two working days rather than the same afternoon. It is the one piece of slowness we ask you to accept.
Where the cocoa comes from
We buy single-harvest cocoa from four growers, in Ecuador, Madagascar, Peru and the Dominican Republic, through an importer who publishes what they pay. We are a small buyer and we do not pretend our volume changes anyone’s life. We do think knowing the farm and paying above the commodity price is the least defensible place to cut a cost.
Who we are
There are nine of us now. Four make, two pack, one answers the emails, and two of us do a bit of everything including the accounts. The kitchen is in Florida and the coppers are the same four we started with, which are now badly dented and work perfectly.
