'Rooted in Real Earth'
Since Henley Chocolates started I've spent a lot of time on my soap box about what food is all about. Our tag line is 'Real, Sustainable, Fun' and lots of people ask me what that actually means in terms of what we do that's different to everyone else. It's something I'm really passionate about and so I'm writing the answer down to tell the world (or anyone who's happy enough to read my people-friendly tree-hugging waffle).
REAL – real for me is about using ingredients that are grown not manufactured. It's about having short ingredients and it's about having the lovely Jennie on my team who grows half the fruit that grows in to our truffles on her allotment. And on top of that it's about working with other local producers who are striving for the same authenticity in the food chain like the Shakespeare Distillery, the Country Markets and many others. What I love about real is that it builds community and makes connections with others in a genuine and traditional way.
Behind Every Flavour there's a Story...
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Chillies - our chillies are grown in the Woolman's family market garden in Dorridge (less than 10 miles from us). From the seemlingly innocent Cayenne peppers to the insanely hot Carolina Reapers ripened by the English summer sun.
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Jersey Black Butter is a fabulous apple preserve available only from the La Mare Wine Estate. Made in huge vats over a four day period this award winning artisanal preserve tastes divine.
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Our chocolate jams are made by the lovely Cecile using her fresh homegrown fruit. An experienced home baker for many years Cecile and her husband sell their delicious home made produce every week at Bentley Heath Country Market.
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We also use the delicious products of other artisan producers like the Penderyn Distillery in the Brecon Beacons who make the delicious Merlyn Cream liqueur that we use in our truffles.
SUSTAINABLE – to me that's probably the most important of the three. Sustainable sourcing is about our business not impacting negatively on the world around us. It made me incredibly happy to discover that the unit I'd agreed to rent is powered from the sun on our roof and heated from trees in Austy Wood on the same farm. It makes me tremendously happy to find a supplier of a new source of packaging that's better for the environment than what we currently use but still protects our delicious chocolate as it should be and most of all it makes me happy that our cocoa is grown in the shade of the rainforest canopy and purchased through a company that works with growers co-operatives to improve the lot of their farmers. Chocolate is awesome – everyone should be a winner!
Our Chocolate is sourced sustainably from Banbury-based Barry Callebaut. One day we'd like to make our own chocolate from bean but with our current scale of production we can't get the same level of sustainability without chartering a ship and buying direct from the plantation. One day...
For now Callebaut are a superb local supplier of great-tasting chocolate couverture with great ethical credentials and membership of the Cocoa Horizons Foundation. 
We use paper-based packaging where possibly sourcing largely from Meridian SP, a specialist packaging company based fairly locally in Malvern. For mail order we use recycled outer packaging and padding material where possible to carefully pack our products ready for their journey to you.
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Our electricity is generated from the roof of our unit - the farm is powered by a huge array of solar panels situated on the roof of the Garden Furniture Centre.
Phone and Internet services are provided to us by the Phone Co-op - a member owned organisation pioneering better engagement and values.
We love working with and supporting local organisations like the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust to create bespoke products for sale in their shops and further afield.
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We supply a number of shops locally and further afield. We don't use a distributor rather choosing to work with companies that we can build a relationship and collaborate with. Most recently we have started to supply Zero Store and The Clean Kilo with chocolate in plastic-free packaging.
FUN – well I guess both of the above contribute to the fun. Every time we recruit I say a little prayer that we get the right answer and it's worked every time! Our amazing team of chocolate fairies are what makes the fun – one morning I walked in to find Jennie being packed in a mail order box by Abi – I didn't ask but we didn't post her! We have so much fun doing what we do and we want to include all our chocoholics in that sense of fun too – that's why our kitchen is open and everyone is welcome to chat to our chocolatiers and be part of something which we think is pretty amazing.
Sign up here to be part of our journey.
Sign up here to be part of our journey.
People - we have a fab and diverse team of local chocolatiers and chocolate support who are all key to the smooth making of our delicious goodies. A big welcome to our newest members - Cory and Ben.
Collaboration - we work closely with other local businesses to support and assist them be it with corporate favours or gifts, team building or sourcing ingredients. We're proud of our partners in chocolate!
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Our design work is all done by the brilliant local designer Sue Westcott from 10-19 graphic design.
The fabulous Birmingham-based Amy-Rose Photography and more recently specialist food photographers Right Angle Photography have both helped us tremendously in our journey here. We love working with them in developing our businesses.
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