Chocolate Week 2014 review

From sensational sculptures to sugar substitutes, we were out and about looking at the present and future of chocolate.

Chocolate Week ran from 13th-19th October this year. As well as being busy tasting a lot of chocolate, making chocolate brownies and asking for your opinion, we also visited various places to see different things... and eat some more chocolate.

Here's what we got up to.

The Chocolate Show

The Chocolate Show was held in London's Olympia over the weekend. I do feel that buying a ticket at £12.50 advance/£15 on the door might be a little much when you're coming inside to buy rather expensive speciality chocolate from the stallholders. Having said that, there were plenty of free samples and lots of guest speakers, demonstrations and a chocolate fashion show to keep chocoholics happy.

There were also some fantastic chocolate sculptures at the show, like this wise owl (who had unfortunately started weeping in the warmth). 

Below you can see that Paul A Young's wares were popular.

Here's a quacking chocolate sculpture.

Rody Chocolaterie (below), on a flying visit from France, had slabs of silky chocolate and colourful giant chocolate buttons of all flavours. If you're ever near Bergerac, seek the shop out.

Meanwhile, Lauden Chocolate's passion fruit chocolates are an absolute work of art. Though you might be slightly put off if I tell you they're £1 each, believe me the quality is worth paying for. The fruity tang complements the mellow bitterness of dark chocolate to create a magnificent flavour.

Another highlight was Lindt's stall. The lime and salt flavour combinations are definitely worth it for a treat, and as a larger company, they're a reliable and slightly cheaper alternative to the more expensive things on offer, if a little less exciting.

The World Chocolate Forum

Just before Chocolate Week kicked off, I visited Kennedy’s World Chocolate Forum, an annual event organised by the specialist industry publication Kennedy’s Confection Magazine. The event has been held at the British Library for the last three years.

Angus Kennedy (pictured left), owner and editor of the magazine that bears his name, says there were over 300 producers at the event from all over the world at this year’s forum.

As an industry event, it’s not open to the public. But that doesn't mean it's an austere, business-like atmosphere. Conference Chairman Steve Osborn's opening words to attendees were the advice he was given on his first day working in confectionery: “You’re making sweets. Enjoy yourself.”

The future of chocolate

Where is chocolate going? With pressing topics such as obesity and sustainability to consider, there needs to be innovation to cope with demand. The price of cocoa is at an all-time high, so sourcing a sustainable product is crucial as to not drive the price higher with shortages.

The question in the air at the Chocolate Forum, understandably, was what do we do? Chocolate bars are already smaller than they used to be, and perhaps they'll get even smaller. Stevia, a natural sugar substitute, is being looked at by some chocolate companies as a way of reducing sugar consumption.

The concerns of sustainability are also key to industry figures. Angus Kennedy comments that the sheer number of sustainable assurance schemes is evidence that people know that something has to be done, but a difficulty now exists – which schemes are the right ones to choose? “If people suddenly say, ‘we’re now Fairtrade’, does that mean the chocolate was unfair before?”

Perhaps, he suggests, rather than spending money on what cynics might call a marketing exercise, paying for a label, people who produce chocolate should just be fair in the first place.

However, having a simple love for their work isn’t as much of a conundrum for confectioners. “Chocolate,” Angus concludes, “is still something people are very passionate about.”

A passion for chocolate

Angus is right, of course. Paul A Young, who also spoke at the conference, is just one UK chocolatier who is really pushing the boundaries of flavour with adventurous combinations like his port and stilton, or Marmite chocolate truffles.

Speaking about the early failure of his milk chocolate and white chocolate truffles to sell, he said that "everybody can get [those] everywhere else. Why would they buy them from me?" This realisation drove him to be more creative, which has hooked customers in droves.

And with large chains like Hotel Chocolat selling high quality chocolate in high streets across the country, there’s no fear that chocolate innovation will die out. Hotel Chocolat even have a hotel on the island of Saint Lucia where chocolate mad customers can get a better understanding of the farming process.

What's the future of chocolate? And what's your favourite? Let us know in the Comments below.

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