An investment for a Cornish craft chocolate producer in equipment and a specialist cooling line will help the company to meet growing demand for its ethically produced, bean to bar products.
The investment in production equipment, totalling UK£100,000, was financed by asset finance provider Ignition, and will serve to increase productivity and efficiency for the company.
Chocolarder has been trading near Falmouth, Cornwall, for almost a decade and is one of a handful of bean-to-bar dark and milk chocolate makers in the country, supplying retailers which includes Selfridges and The Great Cornish Food Stores. The cocoa beans which go into the chocolate are sourced directly from single estate and family run plantations from across the world including Peru, the Dominican Republic, Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Colombia.
These beans are then roasted, winnowed, stone ground, roll-refined, tempered, crafted into shape and packaged on site at the company’s factory. Three years ago, Ignition helped Chocolarder fund a winnower for removing the outer shells of the cocoa beans and was approached last year to help finance the cooling line and additional equipment to help with regulating and optimising the temperature of the chocolate prior to packaging.
“We’re really pleased to have been part of Chocolarder’s journey, providing finance for essential equipment to help them grow,” said Ross Hyde, Relationship Manager at Ignition. “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.”
“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,” added Mike Longman, Founder of Chocolarder. “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.”
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Caitlin Gittins
Editor, International Confectionery
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