Behind bars: contemplating the making of chocolate and potential future developments
Because chocolate is so widely available, it’s simple to underestimate the amount of effort and creativity that goes into making one of the most popular sweet delicacies in the world. In a conversation with Carol Oldbury, Managing Director of Hames Chocolates, New Food learned about the difficulties faced by this decadent business last year as well as the newest trends.
If Hames Chocolates isn’t a household brand, many British people have probably eaten them without realizing it. Oldbury claims that Hames Chocolates is the “biggest smallest manufacturer.” The foundation of Hames’ business strategy is its supply of chocolate that other well-known companies package with their own branding. Actually, according to Oldbury, ninety-five percent of the company’s chocolate is sold to stores and companies that are more well-known under private labels.
The path of chocolate from tanker to wrapper
However, this process is far more involved than just sending chocolate bars to be wrapped by someone else. Every brief is unique, according to Oldbury. Occasionally, it could be chocolate-covered brussels sprouts in an advent calendar or chocolate shavings for a chocolate cake.
“Ideally, the customer would specify the product’s audience as well as the quantity, flavor profile, and grade of chocolate.”
Regarding the chocolate itself, Oldbury clarified that most of their cocoa originates in West Africa. “It is delivered to us in sizable tankers, where it is then shaped and formed into any desired shape.
The cocoa pods are harvested, desiccated, and baked. After that, they are conched, which is a process that basically squashes the beans. Like other chocolate makers, we have another business conch on our behalf. After that, the beans are ground in a machine before emulsifiers, sugar, and milk are added.
The science of chocolate flavor and contemporary fashion
According to Oldbury, the process of making flavor-infused chocolate is intricate, and some flavors—like orange and caramel—go better with chocolate than others. Another important factor and a significant problem is how long and how strongly a flavor lingers in your mouth.
“An orange truffle, for example, ought to have a sweet flavor without any aftertaste. In a similar vein, you don’t want to taste chocolate that has been infused with chilli for the next hour! On the other hand, a potent flavor like mint ought to endure.
“It is my responsibility to lead the company forward,” she added. Our panel of tasters assigns a score to each product based on its appearance, flavor retention, and mouthfeel. If any
“It’s not a great hardship,” she jokingly continued, “there were five on my desk yesterday and there are none today.”
Just like with every food item, there are constantly advancements and patterns to be mindful of. It’s interesting to note that one particular present chocolate trend may be driven by a political environment. “Especially with Brexit, British chocolate is going to be a big thing,” Oldbury said. “Now is the perfect moment to celebrate being British!
The reputation of British chocolate was not great in the past, but like anything, it changed. I believe that people are curious in the origins of their food and want to celebrate that; British chocolate is just as delicious as Belgian or French chocolate, in my opinion.
Given all of the current health benefits, dark chocolate has also gained a lot of popularity, and this trend is only going to continue. Apart from that, vegan products have become very popular. We have all been consuming chocolate oat drinks in the office lately, thus we are currently developing a vegan “milk” chocolate.
Ethics and sustainability in practice
The chocolate industry has been tarnished by claims of unethical and unsustainable business methods. Editor of New Food Bethan Grylls spoke with Tony’s Chocolonely just last month about modern slavery in the business. According to Oldbury, sustainability and ethical business practices are very important to Hames Chocolates.
Like I mentioned, a large portion of our cocoa beans come from West Africa. Farmers in this region that source cocoa beans have received a decent wage since October. This adds up to about $400 more per tonne, which is paid to the farmers directly.
“To ensure we’re taking care of the environment and trading fairly with farmers, we also collaborate with Cocoa Horizons and the Rainforest Alliance.”
Right now, sustainability is a prevalent theme in the food industry, and this also applies to the chocolate industry. Oldbury clarified, “It is a given that our chocolate is sustainable, but we now need to look at our packaging.
“To ensure that we are environmentally friendly, we have started introducing compostable flow wrap and currently use compostable lolly sticks.”
Overcoming obstacles
In the last ten months or so, COVID-19 has affected almost every sector of the food business, if not all of them. Oldbury disclosed that 98 percent of Hames Chocolates’ clients, who were in the culinary and hospitality industries, had to temporarily close.
“We are regarded as an essential business, so we don’t anticipate that we will have to close again, even though we were forced to close for three weeks during the first lockdown.”
Oldbury offered the following insight on how the business handled these very challenging times: “We needed to be agile; we developed a new website and took the time to future-proof the business.” We added more vegan options, new product lines, and an energy-efficient production line.
However, Oldbury is experiencing difficulties this year due to more than simply the pandemic. “Leave will also present challenges,” she stated to New Food.
“Belgium remains the world’s center for chocolate production, and depending on the materials imported, there may be a tariff.”
Yet there is still lots to be optimistic about for the family-run business. Even after having to close for a portion of the year due to Brexit-related circumstances and constantly changing trade conditions, Hames managed to land a number of contracts, including new vegan goods.
Following our lockout, we had a ton of orders to complete! This year has seen a significant increase in the amount of vegan chocolate that we manufactured.
People are more willing to invest time in making this kind of product because there is a greater demand for it. Better vegan chocolate will follow from it.