Firetree Chocolate Limited

All things chocolate came together for Chocolate Unwrapped this weekend and we were there! Meeting chocolate lovers new to Firetree as well as those who are already huge fans in this amazing setting was a real honour. Exploring all four floors of the exhibition, visitors were taken literally, from bean to the bar, starting with cocoa beans and finishing with chocolate cocktails. Firetree was among other bean-to-bar producers on the first floor to explore beyond the percentage and discover how origin affects flavour. Taking visitors on a journey through our different taste notes, they were invited to appreciate and explore just how the bean itself, its terroir and the process from bean to bar, affects the flavour profile of the bar. No two chocolates are the same even when using the same simple ingredients! Those who visited will have moved on to discover the artistry behind truffles, ganaches and pralines before discovering blissful bakes, a room of perfect patisserie and sumptuous cakes. Having already discovered our volcanic origins, they were also rewarded with a special treat thanks to the fabulous Abigail Scheuer of Le Choux who created some stunning pastry specialities featuring Firetree Chocolate. With thanks to Paul Young, who incidentally revived his famed Sea-Salted Caramel for one day only, and the team at Nudge PR for organising this fabulous event.

With chocolate this exceptional, it would be remiss of us not to offer personalisation and bespoke options for your corporate gifting this winter and festive season. We are a proud team of chocolate makers crafting bean-to-bar chocolate. From working directly with our farmers to perfect fermenting and drying, to selecting the perfect low and slow roast, winnowing, grinding, conching, tempering and moulding the chocolate, every step requires an intimate understanding of how the cocoa bean is transformed into a chocolate we can truly appreciate. Visit our Corporate Gifting page to find out more https://lnkd.in/ew2ZB_4j

From bean to bar to..... bag? Our range of Chocolate Thins, Hot Chocolate and Chocolate Bars on the new look fixture. Thanks to PANZER'S DELI & GROCERY who are among our early and enduring Firetree discoverers - whose own customers are the epicurean, curious and discerning.

🙌 When chocolate tastes this good... you want the world to know! 🙌 Another hoard of Great Taste Awards to add to our burgeoning collection. Unbiased testing by the judging team at the Guild of Fine Food, those for whom taste really matters, is one of the greatest accolades there is. We're told that only a third of products entered receive any star-rating, so for four more of our rich volcanic chocolates to be recognised is testament to the expertise and skill of our cocoa farmers and our own craftspeople.

Riding the summer sales trends in chocolate is simply a matter of understanding what consumers are looking for at this time of year. It's fair to say that peak chocolate season is November to March, but that doesn't mean that sales stop completely in the summer months. As we've seen reflected in our own sales, consumers have been opting for high percentage cocoa products that are versatile - using them in everything from iced drinks to summer baking. And summer is a time when we're looking particularly for summer fruit flavours. Ideal then, that many of our directly-sourced, single origin cocoas happen to be full of bright, citrusy and red berry notes. Iced Chocolate Drink anyone? https://lnkd.in/dy58aSUA

If we understood more about where our food comes from, do you think we'd appreciate it all the more? Our intrepid explorer and Master Chocolate Maker martyn o'dare has just returned from his recent visit to the Solomon Islands to meet with our cocoa farmers old and new. Many of the cocoa farms across the Solomons are in extremely hard to reach locations, deep in the heart of forested areas where the cocoa trees are protected by coconut palms and hardwoods. Tricky journeys, like this one on foot, where Martyn had to criss-cross the river on the way up to the farm, are all the more worth it to discover the outstanding quality cocoa that grows in the nutrient-rich volcanic soil. When the beans are carefully fermented and solar-dried, when they are transported straight to our facility and roasted whole, low and slow to preserve their flavours, when they are expertly conched and tempered, do you believe you can still taste the notes of their origins deep in the heart of these volcanic islands? We do.

Paradise in Peterborough! There's always a bit of a buzz when a new batch of cocoa arrives at Firetree HQ - this time it's from Malekula Island. Remote, hard to reach Malekula in Vanuatu. An eight hour boat trip from Port Vila, or you can risk the plane ride but if the pilot doesn't see you waiting on the grass strip for the return flight they'll simply fly on the next island! Cocoa entered this idyllic island in the 1920s. It's seen many changes of management and funding and is now back up and running as a thriving cocoa producing island. But the amount of cocoa grown here doesn’t even register on the cocoa scale of production, which shows how rare it is. Malekula cocoa is exquisite with delightful taste notes of cherry, citrus and white grape. And for this, we must champion and support the farmer and the islanders' efforts to create a sustainable future for their cocoa. We're off to roast our new batch - low and slow to ensure we retain all those complex, layered taste notes. https://lnkd.in/ejdcY-72

Does % cocoa really matter when it comes to creating the perfect chocolate? The answer is..... it depends who you're talking to! For our Master Chocolate Maker martyn o'dare the 'right' percentage of cocoa isn't about finding a nice round 70% or 80% level, it's about allowing the cocoa bean to lead the way, working with it to unlock all of those rich and complex taste notes. But for consumers, the percentage of cocoa is one of the primary ways that they navigate the world of dark chocolate. It's a shorthand language that they have been conditioned to take as a marker of quality. In our own consumer survey nearly 7 in 10 people always look for the cocoa content on pack when buying chocolate. And, aside from how the packaging looks, percentage of cocoa is their main cue for determining premiumness. Much like the world of fine wine or coffee, there's a long way to go for brands like Firetree to help consumers expand their chocolate language and find new ways into this rich and complex landscape that percentage cocoa alone belies. So, now you know why our chocolates are odd percentages, like 73% or 84%. The cocoa beans have spoken and we have listened.

With Father's Day approaching, we're laying claim to chocolate, and especially single estate bean-to-bar chocolate, being the perfect gift for the men-folk in our lives. UK research from the likes of Mintel suggests that women over-index within the chocolate-eating population. So, is it that men simply don't like chocolate as much? Well, according to Dr Catherine Jansson-Boyd, Reader in Consumer Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University there's no evidence for this. And that makes sense to us. Afterall, much like other food and drink categories where craft is increasingly sought after (think wine, coffee, beer, olive oil, cheese, whisky and more), we're all on a journey from what we used to accept as standard to discovering a world of flavour, texture, aroma and terroir. So, if your gift recipient loves the idea of foodie exploration, Firetree Chocolate is the perfect way to show you get them. Here are our top picks for discovering the deeply complex taste notes of our rich volcanic chocolate for this Father's Day https://lnkd.in/e-pXuV5w

Wish you were here! A postcard from our Master Chocolate Maker, hunter and gatherer martyn o'dare on his travels in the Solomon Islands. From lush flora and temperamental weather to the many shapes and hues of the cocoa pods and brightly coloured fish at the local market, this is the 'terroir' that makes going to the ends of the earth for our cocoa worth the adventure. Many of the farmers that Martyn meets are passionate about cocoa farming, about multi-cropping and about sustainability. Perfect for a brand like Firetree that prides itself on buying directly from the farmer in a true bean-to-bar partnership.