Club News

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Look Who’s TaLking!

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WHEN LyNN received the invitation to speak about Corporate Social Responsibility at the University of Hertfordshire, she was filled with both excitement and a little apprehension. Excited because Lynn is passionate about our work in Ghana and St Lucia and jumps at every chance to talk about it. Slightly apprehensive because who knows what kind of questions might be thrown at her by this audience of academics!

TaiLoR-MaDE NoT oFF-THE-PEG

Overall, though, Lynn relished the opportunity as she told us, “Over the

years we have evolved our own programme of ethics, specially adapted to the environment in which we work. It’s a unique approach and something we’re very passionate about, which is why it is always useful to have our ethics laid bare and validated by academics. After all, they will scrutinise our Engaged Ethics programme from an entirely different perspective than either you, our members, or me.”

The talk was at the University’s Business School, which was hosting a Corporate Social Responsibility Discussion Forum. Lynn kicked off proceedings by explaining

the origins of our ethical approach, which can be best summed up by Lynn,

“It would have been very easy to simply jump aboard any one of the ethical bandwagons that were around at the time but, while they may suit some companies, they certainly don’t suit all. We have very strong company values that demand originality and authenticity in all we do – and that very much applied to our ethics too. It became clear that we needed to develop our own, tailor-made ethical programme – one that was pioneering, hands-on, accountable and produced tangible results.”

ghana and St Lucia were the hot topics when Lynn was invited to speak at the University of Hertfordshire to explain just what ‘Engaged Ethics’ are.

Lynn takes to the stage!

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Dear Club Members

welcome to your latest edition of Club News. This month we lead with news of a talk I was invited to give at the university of

Hertfordshire. As you can probably guess, I love spreading the news about our engaged ethics programmes in both Ghana and st lucia – so it was an absolute pleasure to be invited. but more than that, it was also a great opportunity to have our unique ethical approach validated by academics with a firmly subjective point of view.

Also this month, there’s news of how we were involved in st lucia’s Independence Day celebrations as well as some extremely highbrow research we’ve conducted involving smiley and Frowny face lollies… speaking of research, if you’d like to take part in our Music & Chocolate Collection, then now’s the time to get cracking – see page 11 for details. And if you took part in our Why I Belong Survey, turn to page 6 to see if you’re one of the lucky prize draw winners!

And finally, don’t miss next month when we’ll be unveiling a few changes to the Tasting Club. All will be revealed then, but I can say that one change affects your tasting box and another affects your Tasting Club Manager…

until next month, happy tasting!

Send your letters to Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email me on lynn@hotelchocolat.co.uk We are waiting to hear from you!

Lynn CunninghamManager of Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club

SNIPPETS FrOM OUr STOrESIn York we welcomed a group of American visitors – three of them were very excited to see us, but the fourth just wasn’t interested at all. It turned out she had tried American chocolate once when she was 5 and didn’t like it. Staff persuaded her to try our salted caramel chocolate... She liked it so much she bought some – much to the amazement of her friends!

Where will the music take you? See page 11!

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FLExibLE aND RESPoNSivEAnd while Lynn

researched the ethical environment, Tasting Club members also began asking questions about the relationship between chocolate makers and cocoa growers. All of which helped shape our thinking and pointed us towards Ghana, the world’s second largest cocoa producer, where Lynn forged a partnership with The Green Tropics Group, a non-governmental organisation devoted to the welfare of cocoa farmers.

That was eight years ago and that relationship has continued to flourish, as has our Engaged Ethics programme – as Lynn explained to the audience at Hertfordshire University, “Over the last eight years, we’ve seen the enormous value of our hands-on approach. We regularly visit Ghana so can see the results for ourselves and respond very quickly when we see areas that we need to support. Last year, for example, we saw a need for water in order to sustain our cocoa seedlings project, so, with the help of Club members, we sank a borehole.”

FRoM WEST aFRiCa To THE WEST iNDiES

Lynn then spoke about how the success of our Engaged Ethics in Ghana gave us the confidence to apply them to St Lucia, where we grow our own cocoa on The Rabot Estate. But the problems in St Lucia are very different to those in Ghana. In St Lucia the cocoa industry has suffered a 20-year decline and is in need of revitalising so, as Lynn explains, our Engaged Ethics needed to adapt,

“In St Lucia we needed to respond to very different circumstances. Cocoa growing needed a boost of confidence as well as an injection of expertise and know-how, all of which had ebbed away over the past 20 years or so. By offering to buy cocoa at above world prices and running workshops to share our knowledge, we’ve seen

interest in cocoa farming rise significantly already.”

Lynn’s talk sparked a lively debate about how business can balance the seemingly conflicting aims of being successful and being ethical. So, how did Engaged Ethics stand up to academic scrutiny? We’ll let Lynn tell you,

“Our unique approach was very well received and I’m pleased to say that our ethics stood up very well under expert cross-examination! It was also very satisfying to be able to demonstrate that, even if the well known names in ethical trading, like Fairtrade for example, aren’t suitable for our business, there is another way.”

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Why members belong Seeing the chocolates on the doormat after a tough day at work puts things into perspective!

From left – Lynn with Club Founder Angus Thirlwell and Dr Denise Dollimore of Hertfordshire Business School

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BriCkBaT Sesame Square – “a burger bun with chocolate spread.” Carole graddon, romney Marsh.

ClaSSIC SElECTION - D109

Dark SElECTION - k42

SOlID SElECTION - S20

1. Single Malt Smoothie by O Nicod 8.44 (37% scored it 10/10)

2. Pancake Day by O Nicod 8.30 (25% scored it 10/10)

3. Suzette by JC Vandenberghe 8.23 (22% scored it 10/10)

4. Rum & Raisin Marzipan by H Luder 8.13 (26% scored it 10/10)

5. Zest by E Desmet 8.09 (23% scored it 10/10)

6. Cosmopolitan by K Kalenko 8.08 (38% scored it 10/10)

7. Mocha Truffle by M Meier 8.07 (39% scored it 10/10)

8. Stealthy Chilli by EJ Whalley 7.96 (17% scored 10/10)

9. 50% Milk Tasting Batons 7.92 (22% scored it 10/10)

10. Green Flash by E Desmet 7.84 (20% scored it 10/10)

11. Sesame Square by EJ Whalley 7.83 (21% scored it 10/10)

12. Golden Praline 7.83 by K Kalenko and O Nicod (24% scored it 10/10)

13. Malaysian White Tasting Batons 7.75 (15% scored it 10/10)

14. Macadamia Cream by EJ Whalley 7.50 (26% scored it 10/10)

15. Kiba by M Meier 7.36 (36% scored it 10/10)

1. Single Malt Smoothie by O Nicod 8.42 (22% scored it 10/10)

2. Zest by E Desmet 8.39 (35% scored it 10/10)

3. Cosmopolitan by K Kalenko 8.37 (35% scored it 10/10)

4. Kiba by M Meier 8.15 (24% scored it 10/10)

5. Mocha Truffle by M Meier 8.15 (30% scored it 10/10)

6. Stealthy Chilli by EJ Whalley 8.00 (12% scored 10/10)

7. Pancake Day by O Nicod 7.98 (18% scored it 10/10)

8. Rum & Raisin Marzipan by H Luder 7.96 (28% scored it 10/10)

9. Le Crisp Noir Tasting Batons 7.96 (17% scored it 10/10)

10. Golden Praline 7.92 by K Kalenko and O Nicod (12% scored it 10/10)

11. Suzette by JC Vandenberghe 7.91 (24% scored it 10/10)

12. Green Flash by E Desmet 7.91 (12% scored it 10/10)

13. Macadamia Cream by EJ Whalley 7.89 (27% scored it 10/10)

14. Sesame Square by EJ Whalley 7.81 (14% scored it 10/10)

15. Ugandan 80% Dark Tasting Batons 7.81 (23% scored it 10/10)

1. Caramel Cookie Bites 8.56 (36% scored it 10/10)

2. White Praline Fusion 8.48 (55% scored it 10/10)

3. 40% Cocoa Milk Chocolate 8.31 (9% scored it 10/10)

4. Belgian Demi-Eggs 8.24 (45% scored it 10/10)

5. Milk & White Passion 8.14 (27% scored it 10/10)

6. Easter Chicks 7.97 (27% scored it 10/10)

7. Ugandan 80% Dark Batons 7.01 (0% scored it 10/10)

8. Chilli & Orange 6.02 (20% scored it 10/10)

9. Malaysian White Batons 5.81 (0% scored it 10/10)

BoUqUET kiba – “What a lovely reminder of my holiday in Berlin. i drank these the whole trip – happy days!” Hilary More, Woodford green.

BoUqUET rum & raisin Marzipan – “Surprisingly delicious, light as air marzipan with just a hint of run soaked raisin, excellent.” Mrs Parr, Leeds.

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NoW THaT may seem like a slightly negative way of looking at things, but if we mention that the chocolate in question involves marzipan, we’re sure you’ll understand. That’s because marzipan is one of those things that never fails to polarise scores. There are plenty of members who love it, but then again there are also plenty who dislike it and very few that fall in between. All of which means that, on average scores, marzipan tends to feature in the bottom half of the score chart.

But this month something rather special happened – Rum & Raisin Marzipan came a highly respectable fourth with Classic tasters. ‘Surprisingly delicious’ was a comment that came up as did things like ‘I don’t usually like marzipan but…’. So what went right? Well, this recipe was a deliberate ploy of ours to broaden the appeal of marzipan and we did it by keeping the usual high almond marzipan base, but combining it with one of the Club’s favourite recipes – Rum & Raisin. Could this be the start of a marzipan renaissance?

And while we’re on the subject of

polarising chocolates, an unlikely contender took marzipan’s place this month. Macadamia recipes usually do very well with members, however, this month’s Macadamia Cream finished near the bottom in both Classic and Dark boxes – and that despite receiving high percentages of 10/10 scores.

Delving a little deeper, the plot thickens even more because this chocolate did not attract as many very low scores as its position would indicate – only about 6% of members gave it a 6 or less. So what went wrong? Well, it would seem that while Macadamia Cream only impressed a minority, the broad appeal of macadamias prevented many very low scores. But that broad appeal also meant it ended up firmly middle of the road, giving it a low average score overall. A victim of its own broad appeal?

This month we’re not so much looking at what came top of the chart, rather what didn’t come near the bottom!

Have we Broken the Marzipan CUrSE?

BoUqUET Caramel Cookie Bites – “Wonderful, caramelly, melt in the mouth, go weak at the knees chocolate.” natalie Steed, West Yorkshire.

BoUqUET Stealthy Chilli – “The most convincing and complete chocolate so far. a true testament to the aztecs’ love for chilli & chocolate.” klaas Brumann, Cambridge.

BriCkBaT Malaysian White Tasting baton – “The ‘smoky’ part was just too overwhelming, had to check why the fire alarm wasn’t going off...” Sibille Pletsch, London.

Single Malt Smoothie – a

double winner this month!

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With Britain in the clutches of an economic downturn, you might think that the national mood would be a bit on the gloomy side. However, we can exclusively reveal that cutting edge research by Hotel Chocolat has found that all is not lost!

The LoLLY Happiness BaroMETEr!

Why I Belong Survey– prize draw winners announced!

aCRoSS THE United Kingdom, Hotel Chocolat has been keeping a special eye on sales of two particular products – the Smiley Lolly and the Frowny Lolly – both available in Hotel Chocolat stores nationwide. And it goes without saying that whichever lolly customers chose would clearly and accurately reflect their current outlook.

So we’re delighted to announce that, according to the Lolly Happiness Barometer, things aren’t as bad as they seem – Smiley Lollies are out selling the Frowny Lollies by five to one. Chin up everyone!

THaNK you to everyone who took time to complete our Why I Belong Survey – the results make fascinating reading and will help us to continue to give our members exactly what they want. Next month we’ll be publishing those results right here, so you’ll be able to see what your fellow members think for yourself. In the meantime, you might remember that everyone who completed our survey was entered into a prize draw and we can now announce the winners! All three win three monthly tasting selections, so congratulations go to:DaviD MuLLiNER GiNa SMiTH SuSaN SyMoNDS

Why members belong i have an intolerance to chocolate but i can eat Hotel Chocolat because of its purity, lack of additives and all those other nasty things found in some other brands. Thank you.

Why members belong When i first joined i wasn’t sure if it was going to be one of those clubs that you buy one thing and are committed to spending loads even when you don’t want to, but Hotel Chocolat are not like that at all.

Why members belong you challenge traditional flavours. if you don’t try new flavours and textures you would never get new chocolates. you love to put at least one bold chocolate in each month to see the reaction.

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The renowned, or should we say infamous, Fortified Collection is back! and this year’s box will be overflowing with the very best of the boozy recipes we’ve tasted all year.

BraCE YOUrSElVES– THE FOrTIFIED COllECTION IS COMING!

Our Fortified Collections have been some of the highest rated boxes we’ve ever created – which just goes to prove the point that something very special happens when premium liqueurs and alcohols meet good chocolate!

The secret of their success lies in the fact that we can ramp up the recipes to make sure they’re brimming with their full quota of premium liqueurs and authentic alcohols. When alcoholic recipes feature in regular monthly selections, we do exercise some restraint to cater for the wider audience. The Fortified Collection, however, is a different matter altogether… specially created for those who love their chocolates with a gorgeous kick!

And every month, your scores and comments for boozy recipes show us just how many of you love your chocolates with a bit of oomph! Fortified4 is shaping up to be another cracker as we put the finishing touches to the 38 chocolates that will feature.

There’s one recipe, however, that we’ll have to wait for… That’s because we’re doing things a little differently this year and

we’ll be asking members to vote for their favourite cocktail ingredients. The winning ingredients will then be put together in an exclusive members’ cocktail.

So watch this space for more details coming soon!

SNIPPETS FrOM OUr STOrESin birmingham a man was very pleased to see that we had one of our Giant ostrich Eggs left. He explained it was a gift for his friend who works at London zoo – part of her job is to look after and raise ostrich chicks!

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iN 1979, St Lucia gained independence and every year they celebrate with a national holiday. But if you’ve done the maths, you’ll realise that this year marked a 30-year milestone, meaning the celebrations were extra special.

So, as well as carnival, calypso music and the odd shot of rum or two, there was also a week long national exhibition to celebrate St Lucia’s achievements and Hotel Chocolat’s Rabot Estate was a big part of it.

Under a marquee at the national cricket ground, visitors were treated to samples of Hotel Chocolat chocolate, including our exclusive single origin milk chocolate made with locally grown, St Lucian cocoa. Visitors also got a taste of what is happening at

Rabot Estate, with staff on hand to explain how our Engaged Ethics programme is helping to rejuvenate cocoa farming in St Lucia – pods, seedlings and, of course, the finished product were all on display.

Estate Director, Phil Buckley told us, “Our exhibition was very popular and not just because we were giving away free chocolate! It was great to be able to spread the news of what we’re doing here and we were inundated with messages of encouragement – from St Lucians excited to see their cocoa industry coming back to life, to prominent members of the St Lucian Government. All of which is a measure of how quickly Hotel Chocolat and the Rabot Estate have been integrated into St Lucian life.”

independence Day is always a cause for celebration in St Lucia and this year Hotel Chocolat was very much part of it.

ST lUCIa Celebrates!Amongst the visitors to our exhibition were local school children getting their first taste of St Lucian chocolate.

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all of us here in the Tasting Club have at least one thing in common – a love of exciting chocolate. and if you’re anything like us, your love of chocolate goes beyond tasting it, which is exactly why we’d love to know what you get up to in your kitchen…

SHarE YOUr rECIPES…and you could win THrEE tasting boxes!

So iF you’vE PERFECTED a recipe involving chocolate, be it sweet or savoury, and you’d like to share it, then we’d love to hear about it. And for every recipe we print right here in Club News you will receive your next THREE tasting boxes free, as a thank you!

Please include full ingredients listings and preparation instructions so that we can all try your recipe out – then send it to:

Email: lynn@hotelchocolat.co.ukPost: Tasting Club Recipes, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL

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anD THE aWarD goES To…From left – Teresa Peck, Melissa Shackleton, Gabriela Pereira & Kate Chapman

donned their glad rags to represent Hotel Chocolat at the BAFTA Television Awards

LaST MoNTH’S British Academy Television Awards held more interest than usual for us. Why? Well because Hotel Chocolat is the Official Chocolate Partner of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts this year! The pursuit of excellence and the best

of creativity is something that both Hotel Chocolat and BAFTA share, so it’s the perfect partnership.

See who scooped the prizes for yourself at www.bafta.org/awards/television

SPOTTED IN OUr STOrESComedian Vic Reeves dropped in to see us in Maidstone with his lovely children and the

chirpy ex-children’s TV presenter, Andy Peters, visited our Birmingham store.

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if you haven’t reserved your Music & Chocolate Collection yet, then please hurry, because we’ll soon be raising the curtain on this unique experience!

laST Call for the performance of the year!

Music & Chocolate is a collection of 16 specially commissioned chocolates, together with 16 specially selected music tracks on an exclusive CD. All you have to do is put the two together and let the music and chocolates wash over your senses. It’s chocolate entertainment the likes of which have never tasted (or heard) before!

Apart from having great fun, the aim is to see just how music can influence the taste of chocolate. So, as well as a menu, there’s also a special score card to record your combined

listening and tasting experience. We’ll gather the results and publish our findings here in Club News. Of course, scoring is always optional, but it’s sure to be highly entertaining!

You can reserve your seat today for this unique tasting experience – just £24.95 including delivery!

Online at www.chocs.co.uk/music or call 08444 933 933

Write to us at: Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston, SG8 5HL Email: lynn@hotelchocolat.co.uk or via our website: www.chocs.co.uk Club News: Copywriter: Simon Thirlwell; Contributors: Simon Thirlwell, Lynn Cunningham, Terry Waters; Design: Katherine Kannegieter © The Chocolate Tasting Club Limited 2009

DarkDon’t forget - you can score by post or online at www.chocs.co.uk

THiS MoNTH’S PRizE

DRaW WiNNERS

Classic Selection prize draw winner is Mrs K Humphries of Poole who wins Milk Oblivion.Next month’s prize is a Hand Piped Sleekster Selection – our best selling selection with something for absolutely everyone.

Dark Selection prize draw winner is Mr S Collins of Birchington who wins a Dark Feel Good Six Pack. Next month’s prize is Dark Immersion – an exciting journey exploring the deep, dark flavour nuances of different dark chocolates.

Solid Chocolate prize draw winner is Mrs V Cook of Swindon who wins a Milk on Milk Slab. Next month’s prize is a Triple Chocolate Wham Bam Giant Slab – a dreamy chocolate trinity of milk, white and caramel chocolates swirled together.

CaPTION COMPETITION

WiN aN ExubERaNTLy FRuiTy SELECTioN!Here’s John Hadley, our retiring Operations Director. But what do you think the caption could be…?Simply send us your caption ideas and you could be tucking into a superb selection of Exuberantly Fruity recipes. So get your thinking caps on and send your entries to:Email: lynn@hotelchocolat.co.ukPost: Tasting Club Caption Competition, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL