81 Revelstoke Road

Southfields

London SW18 5NL

www.derosierchocolates.com

 Opened in August 2012, my local coffee shop DeRosier is coming up for its first birthday so it seemed a good time to talk to founders Leona and Andrew. Named after Leona’s maiden-name, DeRosier offers gourmet eats and drinks to the residents of Southfields and Wimbledon Park. The selection is based on artisan coffee, Hot Chocolate (praised by Time Out), home-made cakes and of course, handmade chocolates.

DeRosier is a second career for Leona, whose interest in fine chocolate was inspired by not being able to find anything locally she really liked to give on Mothers day four years ago. The Barry Callebaut  Chocolate Academy  Course and a long search for premises followed – initially Leona looked for  a small shop but she and Andrew decided to combine chocolate with coffee to reach a wider audience.

 All the chocolates are hand made by Leona using couvertures from Grenada, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Venezuela. She tends to eschew “wacky flavour combinations such as bacon and egg” in favour of more traditional products such as Gianduja, honeycomb and Champagne truffles. The most popular filling is passionfruit, with customers buying her entire production for dinner parties. Cocoa bean origin is not yet a hot topic in leafy SW18, although customers do ask about their single-origin hot chocolate.  Considering DeRosier’s proximity to Wimbledon a range of tennis-related items makes sense, and Leona has also been commissioned by the All England Club to make over 1000 small boxes of chocolates which will be offered to guests in the Royal Box during the Championships.

So if you are coming to the tennis this year or if you just want to check out Wimbledon Park’s new Beach Volleyball courts, DeRosier is well worth a visit. And with Leona and Andrew already looking at other locations DeRosier is a name to watch

Boom in online sales

• Organic shoppers are increasingly choosing the convenience and variety offered by home delivery over limited ranges at many supermarkets.
• A striking success in 2012 was seen by Ocado, increasing organic sales by 6.4%, and overtaking Asda and Morrisons to become the UK’s fourth-largest organic retailer – with predicted further growth of 10-15% in 2013.
• Home-delivery specialists Ocado, Abel & Cole and Riverford, increased their combined organic sales by 10.3% in 2012, putting them as front runners of organic box scheme sales.
• Sainsbury’s saw its online organic sales increase by a remarkable 48%.

Independent outlets

• Independent outlets saw a 0.7% increase in sales, covering box schemes, mail order, farm and health-food shops, farmers’ markets and catering.
• Now valued at £480.6 million, the independent sector is providing consumers with a high street alternative for the ethical consumer.

Multiple retailers

• Reduced availability of organic products in various supermarkets has affected the market both in the short term, and looking at future growth.
• The seven leading multiple retailers saw their organic sales fall by 3.8%.
• Sales of supermarkets own-label ranges fell by 11.2% in 2012. Success of Duchy Originals own-label range contributed to a 1.1% increase in Waitrose organic sales.

Box schemes

• Box scheme, home-delivery and mail-order sales increased by 4.4% to £174.3 million.
• A third successive year of healthy growth was spearheaded by Abel & Cole and Riverford, whose turnover increased by 20% and 8% respectively.
• Abel & Cole’s weekly deliveries reached the 50,000 mark, increasing by a quarter.

For the full report please go to www.soilassociation.org/marketreport

 Q. With the organic industry facing a challenging time, are consumers more swayed by terms such as natural as purse strings get ever tighter? Do consumers really understand what natural means and how it is communicated on-pack? Is the lack of an industry-wide standard regarding what constitutes “natural” confusing consumers?

 A. As organic has lost market share (albeit only in the UK) the term natural has been pushed as a replacement. As a robust descriptive term natural is noticeably lacking – it has no universally agreed legal definition, it is unenforceable and ideas about what is natural vary widely from country to country. Consumers respond well to the description natural  without being able to articulate what is natural and what is not. Clearly a carrot is natural but is canned carrot soup natural? Probably not if you go by the Food Standards Agency guidelines.

 Natural suffers from other disadvantages. The nutritional desirability of many natural products is debatable. Deadly nightshade is natural (it occurs in nature) but is unlikely to be recommended by many nutritionists.  Sugar,  animal fat and alcohol are natural, but are not always a great choice for consumers. And that’s before we get into trying to distinguish between Natural and Nature Identical or Natural Flavour versus Natural Flavouring.

 Maybe the biggest problem with natural is the universal expectation that any new products offered to supermarkets will be all natural.  The food industry has done a great job of replacing artificial colours and additives with natural equivalents to allow that hallowed “all natural” claim on front-of-pack. As a result the “all natural” claim is no longer a way of getting a listing or driving sales. Maybe there would be more impact in launching Unnatural products.

 The irony here is that one category of food is always and absolutely natural. Every single ingredient is scrutinised and inspected to make sure it conforms with the necessary international legislation. The same legislation specifically prevents any artificial ingredient from being used. And the name of this category?  Organic

A recent report by Reuters challenged the assumption that chocolate is a recession-proof treat that consumers continue to buy despite the grim economic outlook. Analysts said worsening economic conditions in the euro zone had prompted a sharp slowdown in European demand for chocolate. In Switzerland, the world’s top chocolate consumer, domestic chocolate consumption dropped about 8 percent by volume in the first four months of the year. In Germany, one of the world’s largest chocolate consumers, retail sales of chocolate bars fell 7.3 percent on the year in the first four months of 2012.

Thankfully fine chocolate in the UK does not appear to be affected by the same pressures. Fine chocolate is generally regarded as chocolate made from beans grown in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Venezeula and Madagascar. Cocoa from these countries sells at higher prices than beans from origins such as West Africa. The premium is exacerbated by economies of scale: mainstream chocolate is made on an industrial scale whereas fine chocolate is made in small batches, which inevitably costs more.

The good news is that the UK fine chocolate market is growing in leaps and bounds so higher prices do not appear be deterring ever-increasing numbers of consumers seeking out better quality chocolate.  Supermarkets have spotted an opportunity and upgraded the quality of their own-label bars so that it is possible to find good quality, high cocoa solid bars at very competitive prices. However the supermarkets are very much following the trend set by small innovative brands and the retailers who stock them.

We can summarise current trends in fine chocolate as ‘The Three Ds’:  Dark, Designated Origin and Direct Sourcing.  Gone are the days when milk chocolate dominated the UK’s palates: the sterling work done by Green & Black’s and Lindt over the past ten years has paid off so that the balance is rapidly tipping towards dark. One reason for this is the “health halo” on dark chocolate. In July Barry Callebaut AG won the backing of the European Food Safety Authority for its claim that cocoa flavonols can be good for blood circulation. Designated Origin allows consumers to appreciate how where and how cocoa beans are grown influence the flavour of the finished chocolate: what French wine-makers refer to as terroire. Direct Sourcing is a new concept. Now that there are so many onpack certification schemes – organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz and more – emphasis is shifting to companies who have a direct relationship with the farmers whose cocoa beans they use.

Divine have a unique position here as they are 45% owned by the Ghanian farming co-operative Kuapa Kokoo. The farmers have direct influence over how the company is run and share in the profits from the chocolate. Their Christmas launches build on the success of the current range. Explained Rosanna Mayhew “our new Ginger Thins will appeal to the adventurous foodie – they go along with our existing Mint Thins but are more of a daring option! To appeal for the stocking filler market we have also launched Christmas tree shaped chocolates – one milk, one dark, and one white chocolate.”

Another company with a similar ethos is relative newcomer GO*DO (it means “pleasure” in Italian), who buy cocoa beans direct from organic farming groups in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Peru. GO*DO embody another growing trend: affordable indulgence. Using a 35g bar size keeps down calories (195 per bar) and rsp (£0.85). Bar flavours are all very Italian – Dark, Milk, Almond,  Hazelnut,  Espresso and Vanilla. Top Sante magazine were impressed, calling GO*DO ““our favourite choccie treat”.

Green & Black’s agree that provenance and sustainable sourcing are becoming ever more significant. Monika Skrzypczak commented “Christmas 2012 for fine chocolate will be about products that provide value outside of price.  Playing alongside an increasingly price competitive grocery sector, the fine foods channel has a unique opportunity to showcase premium through products that add value, be it tasting notes that complement the Green & Black’s Tasting Collection, or through exciting displays that signpost our Premium credentials”.

A different approach has been taken by Montezuma’s, who over the summer launched a range based on the “Great British Pudding”. Flavours included Eton Mess, Spotted Dick, Apple Crumble and Lemon Meringue. Suitably patriotic packaging reinforced the quirky Britishness of the bars. A similar approach could work well at Christmas.

Another specialist brand doing well is Booja Booja. They have recently won three Organic Food Awards as well as two Great Taste Awards, including Three Stars for their Hazelnut Crunch truffles. Laura Herrell pointed out another reason for their success. “Free From is now one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the Grocery trade and has moved from being a niche to an essential part of any fine food retailers range. Our dairy free chocolate truffles are a source of great delight to people who realise that they can still enjoy extraordinarily delicious treats without suffering negative health effects.  As the country’s leading manufacturer of fine dairy free, gluten free chocolates our attention is now firmly fixed on ensuring that we are able to supply our customers what they want, whenever they want it, in the run up to Christmas.” Truffles work for Monty Bojangles too, with sales reaching 40 packs per store per week during December.

The world of Fine Chocolate may not be totally insulated from the current economic downturn but at least in the UK specialist chocolatiers and retailers appear in rude health as we head towards Christmas. More dedicated chocolate brands will launch at the Speciality and Fine Food Fair, now with its own Speciality Chocolate Fair. And Chocolate Week 2012 is stuffed full of chocolate-infused events including consumer show Chocolate Unwrapped, this year at a prestigious Covent Garden venue.

I’m dreaming of a Dark Christmas…

Simon Wright

For more information

www.divinechocolate.com

www.godochoc.com

www.greenandblacks.com

www.montezumas.co.uk

www.boojabooja.com

www.whoismontybojangles.com

www.specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk

www.chocolateweek.co.uk

www.chocolateunwrapped.co.uk

The number of local lines sold in Tesco has risen by more than 40% in the past five years as demand for regional produce grows. The retailer carried just under 2,800 local lines  in 2007: it now stocks more than 4,000. 54% of Tesco shoppers say they are buying more local products than they were 5 years ago. Sales of local foods exceeded £1bn in 2011/12.

www.thegrocer.co.uk

The Grocer and www.farminguk.com

Thankfully fine chocolate in the UK does not appear to be affected by the same pressures. Fine chocolate is generally regarded as chocolate made from beans grown in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Peru, Venezeula and Madagascar. Cocoa from these countries sells at higher prices than beans from origins such as West Africa. The premium is exacerbated by economies of scale: mainstream chocolate is made on an industrial scale whereas fine chocolate is made in small batches, which inevitably costs more.

The good news is that the UK fine chocolate market is growing in leaps and bounds so higher prices do not appear be deterring ever-increasing numbers of consumers seeking out better quality chocolate.  Supermarkets have spotted an opportunity and upgraded the quality of their own-label bars so that it is possible to find good quality, high cocoa solid bars at very competitive prices. However the supermarkets are very much following the trend set by small innovative brands and the retailers who stock them.

We can summarise current trends in fine chocolate as ‘The Three Ds’:  Dark, Designated Origin and Direct Sourcing.  Gone are the days when milk chocolate dominated the UK’s palates: the sterling work done by Green & Black’s and Lindt over the past ten years has paid off so that the balance is rapidly tipping towards dark. One reason for this is the “health halo” on dark chocolate. In July Barry Callebaut AG won the backing of the European Food Safety Authority for its claim that cocoa flavonols can be good for blood circulation. Designated Origin allows consumers to appreciate how where and how cocoa beans are grown influence the flavour of the finished chocolate: what French wine-makers refer to as terroire. Direct Sourcing is a new concept. Now that there are so many onpack certification schemes – organic, Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Utz and more – emphasis is shifting to companies who have a direct relationship with the farmers whose cocoa beans they use.

Divine have a unique position here as they are 45% owned by the Ghanian farming co-operative Kuapa Kokoo. The farmers have direct influence over how the company is run and share in the profits from the chocolate. Their Christmas launches build on the success of the current range. Explained Rosanna Mayhew “our new Ginger Thins will appeal to the adventurous foodie – they go along with our existing Mint Thins but are more of a daring option! To appeal for the stocking filler market we have also launched Christmas tree shaped chocolates – one milk, one dark, and one white chocolate.”

Another company with a similar ethos is relative newcomer GO*DO (it means “pleasure” in Italian), who buy cocoa beans direct from organic farming groups in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Peru. GO*DO embody another growing trend: affordable indulgence. Using a 35g bar size keeps down calories (195 per bar) and rsp (£0.85). Bar flavours are all very Italian – Dark, Milk, Almond,  Hazelnut,  Espresso and Vanilla. Top Sante magazine were impressed, calling GO*DO ““our favourite choccie treat”.

Green & Black’s agree that provenance and sustainable sourcing are becoming ever more significant. Monika Skrzypczak commented “Christmas 2012 for fine chocolate will be about products that provide value outside of price.  Playing alongside an increasingly price competitive grocery sector, the fine foods channel has a unique opportunity to showcase premium through products that add value, be it tasting notes that complement the Green & Black’s Tasting Collection, or through exciting displays that signpost our Premium credentials”.

A different approach has been taken by Montezuma’s, who over the summer launched a range based on the “Great British Pudding”. Flavours included Eton Mess, Spotted Dick, Apple Crumble and Lemon Meringue. Suitably patriotic packaging reinforced the quirky Britishness of the bars. A similar approach could work well at Christmas.

Another specialist brand doing well is Booja Booja. They have recently won three Organic Food Awards as well as two Great Taste Awards, including Three Stars for their Hazelnut Crunch truffles. Laura Herrell pointed out another reason for their success. “Free From is now one of the most rapidly growing sectors in the Grocery trade and has moved from being a niche to an essential part of any fine food retailers range. Our dairy free chocolate truffles are a source of great delight to people who realise that they can still enjoy extraordinarily delicious treats without suffering negative health effects.  As the country’s leading manufacturer of fine dairy free, gluten free chocolates our attention is now firmly fixed on ensuring that we are able to supply our customers what they want, whenever they want it, in the run up to Christmas.” Truffles work for Monty Bojangles too, with sales reaching 40 packs per store per week during December.

The world of Fine Chocolate may not be totally insulated from the current economic downturn but at least in the UK specialist chocolatiers and retailers appear in rude health as we head towards Christmas. More dedicated chocolate brands will launch at the Speciality and Fine Food Fair, now with its own Speciality Chocolate Fair. And Chocolate Week 2012 is stuffed full of chocolate-infused events including consumer show Chocolate Unwrapped, this year at a prestigious Covent Garden venue.

I’m dreaming of a Dark Christmas…

For more information

www.divinechocolate.com

www.godochoc.com

www.greenandblacks.com

www.montezumas.co.uk

www.boojabooja.com

www.whoismontybojangles.com

www.specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk

www.chocolateweek.co.uk

www.chocolateunwrapped.co.uk

To be fair to the buyers they are ludicrously busy with their existing suppliers, before they start thinking about taking on new ones.

So the current system ends up wasting lots of time and energy and means that supermarkets are missing out on some interesting and innovative products. Surely there must be a better way? There is, and it’s called Booths Meet the Buyer.

The process starts with a dedicated website where you upload product details (supply.booths.co.uk). You are then invited to Booths head office in Preston to meet your category buyer. You have a 15 minute slot to present your products and answer the buyers questions (think of it as Speed Dating for brands).  Subsequently the buyer then gives you feedback via the website and you can then discuss next steps.

Simple. Time efficient. Courteous. Engaging.

Other supermarkets please note – this is the way to do it!

Key statistics

• US organic market worth around $32 Billion
• Organic food sales grew +11% over the preceding 13 weeks (non-organic food sales grew by 0.6% in the same period)
• Supermarkets account for 54% of sales, natural and speciality stores 39% and exports 7% (this could increase as a result of the mutual certification recognition deal announced at Biofach)
• Private label penetration varies from 40% (meat and fish) to around 15% (snacks)
• High growth categories are seen as fresh fruit and vegetables and household products: meat, poultry and seafood are rated medium whilst packaged and prepared foods are seen as low growth.
• 72% of parents recognise the USDA organic seal (up from 65% in 2009)
• Organic buyers are twice as likely to be graduates as non-buyers
• 40% of families report they are buying more organic products than they were a year ago