Cornish craft chocolate maker, Chocolarder, has invested in new equipment and a specialist cooling line to help meet growing demand for its ethically produced, fine quality, bean-to-bar chocolate. Financed via Truro-based asset finance provider Ignition, the new equipment, worth around £100k, will serve to increase productivity and efficiency.
Chocolarder has been trading near Falmouth for almost ten years and is one of only a handful of bean-to-bar dark and milk chocolate makers in the country, supplying retailers such as Selfridges and The Great Cornish Food Store. Organic cocoa beans are sourced directly from selected single estate and family run plantations across the world: from Peru and Dominican Republic to Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Colombia. The beans are then roasted, winnowed, stone ground, roll-refined, tempered, crafted into shape, and packaged on site at the company’s specialist factory.
Three years ago, Ignition helped Chocolarder fund a winnower for removing the outer shells of the cocoa beans, and was approached again last year to help finance the cooling line and additional equipment to help regulate and optimise the temperature of the chocolate prior to packaging.
Ross Hyde, Relationship Manager from Ignition comments:
“We’re really pleased to have been part of Chocolarder’s journey, providing finance for essential equipment to help them grow. We look forward to continuing to assist Mike and his team in the years to come, and to watching the company flourish – they definitely have the recipe for success!”
According to Chocolarder’s founder, Mike Longman, the new cooling line is already helping to improve consistency and accelerate production:
“We’re grateful to the Ignition team for assisting with funding for this equipment. The introduction of the cooling line has been very timely, helping us to meet unprecedented demand, particularly over the busy Christmas period. We are absolutely focused on creating delicious, high-quality chocolate using sustainable and ethical practices, and the cooling line will help us to ensure it can be enjoyed by even more customers across the country and beyond.”
