Ever since I can remember, I have always held the strong belief that the quality of your ingredients is absolutely essential to the success of the final dish.
Growing up with a family who reinforced this (being foodies and always cooking meals from scratch), my love of food and the industry began. I literally love nothing more than a fresh food market; you know those ones in the Mediterranean which have the most beautiful colours scattered among rows and rows of vegetables - I get such a buzz from it. I have also always tried to work with ingredients that are as natural as possible: butter over margarine, fruit purees over essences, fresh cream over UHT, ingredients from my garden. It’s also important to me that Studio Chocolate doesn't use store-bought or branded products– like Oreos, Mars Bars or Dairy Milk topping a cake or cupcake, for example. I realise these are the nation's favourites and we love to see something familiar, but as a seasoned chocolate taster (new job title?) I find the quality to be poor, incredibly sweet, and most of the time they use untraceable ingredients.
I first came across Belcolade’s 55% dark chocolate when I was studying in London. I always saw myself as a milk chocolate fan, but after tasting the bittersweet rich 55%, my opinion changed. It’s a really great chocolate to work with too; it tempers nicely and rarely splits in a ganache. This was the chocolate that I wanted to work with when starting the business.
I then had a few customers ask me if we worked with Fairtrade chocolate, so I did a little research (naively thinking, of course it would be) and quickly realised it wasn’t that easy to find out where our chocolate came from. A bit of a red flag. This specific company does produce fairtrade/UTZ/sustainably sourced chocolate, but the type we were using wasn’t coming up under any of these categories - and the ones that were, I couldn’t get from any UK supplier. Being a busy gal, it was always on my radar, but it wasn't something I prioritised after this. I blamed the lack of time I had, or opted for an ‘everyone's using it, so it's obviously fine’ kind of attitude– ultimately I knew I wasn’t going to find out the answers I wanted. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t think this company’s chocolate is unfairly produced, and I believe they look after their farmers from reading up on their website. My issue was that I didn't know this for sure, and I couldn’t access their fairtrade products easily, something which I, and other chocolatiers, should be able to as easily as their non-fairtrade chocolate.
Since 2020, George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement, my priorities shifted. I wanted to find the best way to change Studio Chocolate’s everyday operations, to be better and more accountable, supporting black communities and making positive change. Chocolate is a product grown exclusively in the 'cocoa belt' (mainly Africa and the Americas) and primarily farmed by people of colour. Instantly my first port of call was making sure that the chocolate we use is traceable, sustainable and cruelty-free. Of course, this naturally comes with a price increase. That's the whole point at the end of the day: fair prices for everyone involved. For a long time, I switched to Callebaut's 55% fairtrade dark chocolate without having to change our prices for the customer.
Now in 2024, 4 years after this wake up call, the business has changed so much. I have scaled back by closing my physical shop location, focusing on small batch chocolates as a subscription box, bespoke chocolates for corporate clients and weddings, custom cakes, and educating people on chocolate. For so long I thought success meant how much money was in the bank, or how many chocolates I can make in one day, but after suffering with burnout and realising I didn't love my job anymore, things had to change.
At the start of 2024, the cocoa market rocketed in price and made this chocolate the most expensive it's ever been. What used to cost around £60 now costs £200 (as of 8th Oct 24). As you can imagine, this has caused a lot of chocolatiers serious issues– some have even had to close down. For a long time, I've been wanting to switch to Luker Chocolate: a B-Corp certified brand that I have had so much respect for. Not only are their stories and heritage incredible, but the taste of their chocolate is sublime. I've always seen them as the ultimate chocolate. I've used their chocolate for ganaches here and there, but could never switch to be our main supplier, due to the costs and not wanting to pass this on to my customers. Studio Chocolate is already at a premium price point, and it was a little terrifying thinking that I would need up the prices further.
Having now been faced with this spike in the price of cocoa, it's inevitable that our prices are going to have to go up in order to survive, and it's made me reassess our ingredients and values again. I'm now so so excited to be using Luker's 58 % Misterio Dark, 41% Heliconia Milk, and 36% Nevado White as our main chocolate. This not only improves the taste of our chocolates, but it also contributes to a sustainable, family-run company whom I have every pleasure shouting about.
My core values:
TO TREAT - I'm here to create high quality, delicious and distinctive products, celebrate indulging in treats and self care, and share the joy of gifting to yourself and others.
TO EDUCATE - I want to impart wisdom and skill around the craft of working with chocolate, and provide insights, knowledge and experience that I've gained while working in the industry.
TO EMPOWER - I want to share my passion for chocolate, food, nutrition, wellness and artistry. I want to constantly question if the chocolate I use is fairly produced and empowers the lives of workers.
TO INSPIRE - I'm here to bring magic and beauty to the everyday through inspiring gifting, hands-on workshops and beautiful chocolate boxes– and unabashedly show my personality along the way.
These are the four core values that drive all the decisions and conversations I have when planning product launches, teaching classes, finding new ingredients and working with new clients.
Yes, it can be a really uncomfortable feeling facing up to the reality of the chocolate industry or reading up on things happening around the world. But ultimately, this is where change happens - and boy do we need it. I’ve attached some interesting links at the bottom of this post, which are well worth reading to educate ourselves on how we can help this industry.
Sending you all the chocolate love,
Ellie 👩🏼🍳
I love how Studio Chocolate is embracing such meaningful changes, focusing on sustainable, traceable ingredients and supporting fair practices. The shift to Luker Chocolate sounds like a fantastic move, especially with their commitment to quality and ethics. It's inspiring to see a business that truly values both the product and the people behind it. Definitely a great example of how we can all do better while indulging in something as sweet as chocolate! 🍫✨ And by the way, if you're looking for something sweet, สโบท๊อป has some amazing treats to try!
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