The Chocolate Heart

Emma Clacher talks to Goodness about chocolate inspiration and her fledgling business: The Chocolate Heart.

The Chocolate Heart was born out of a lifelong obsession with chocolate and a passion for sharing the joy that comes from eating good quality chocolate made with positive intentions. We began selling less than 2 years ago but already the word is starting to spread, we find that often once someone has tried our chocolates they become an advocate...passing it on to friends and raving about the taste.

It all began through me playing in the kitchen with a tiny chocolate making kit. I made dark chocolate hearts, wrapped in basic kitchen foil, for my friend's children, Scarlett and India. They adored them, started calling me The Chocolate Lady, and said I should quit my job and make chocolate for a living! And so, The Chocolate Heart began!

To develop my chocolatier skills I enrolled in a distance course at the Ecole Chocolat. It was a frantic time, doing my chocolate homework long into the night whilst also working during the day as an innovation manager. Working with chocolate hands on, creating hundreds of tiny masterpieces, was an amazing experience. Once I started I just couldn't stop!

In the beginning I made all kinds of truffles and bars, selling them at the local farmers markets. The big shift came when I did the Mind Body Spirit festival in London last year. I have a dairy intolerance so to stop me munching on the creamy chocolates I made myself some dairy free truffle bites. The girl on the stall next to me was vegan,she noticed me eating them and begged to try one. They were an instant hit and I sold out.

I realized that I wasn't the only person who wanted to reduce my dairy intake but still enjoy the delicious taste of good chocolate. So I put my passion into creating a range of dairy free and vegan chocolates that were interesting, satisfying and didn't feel like any kind of compromise. Before long I moved out of the kitchen and into a small chocolate studio in Brighton.

I love chocolate, and first and foremost I am a chocolatier. So everything I create has to taste amazing. My recipes are made from a few simple, high quality ingredients. Our chocolates taste so great because they don't contain preservatives or cheap fats, syrups, or margarines. I worked in food marketing and innovation for 15 years and understand the commercial pressures to reduce costs but our business has a clear ethic that it will not compromise on the quality of ingredients.

The quality is just one side of what we do. The other belief we have is that when you create food with love and pure intentions it really makes a difference. I am a trained crystal and reiki therapist and truly believe that food can be energized the same way our bodies can. Our aim is to create chocolate that somehow feels more alive and nourishing for the body and the soul. I still make most of the chocolate myself by hand, with friends and family helping with big orders and events.

We are so grateful for the encouragement and generous support that both our customers and consumers have shown us so far, and look forward the exciting journey ahead.