Blog No 3
Well, that’s been a challenging year….16 months into the pandemic we can thankfully say that we have survived (so far), if not quite thrived, we are still here and looking forward to the “normal” year to come. We decided pretty early on that we were not “essential” and therefore during Lockdowns the Henley shop remained closed. We were very lucky though to be able to keep trading online and we supply businesses that were able to stay open too.
Whilst I don’t want to dwell too much on the past, (we shan’t be having an independent enquiry), we definitely have learned some useful things in the last year. Things change, stuff happens and be prepared mostly, but also, sampling chocolate with a mask on is tough, you can never have enough Salted Butter Caramels and never chase a flush draw out of position when facing a big bet…. forgive me but I wasn’t allowed out much, so my online poker volume increased…. A lot.
Mostly though we would like to thank our amazing customers for supporting us throughout this most turbulent of years. We quite literally would not have made it through without your continuing orders. And thank you to the amazing people who work as carers, key workers in the NHS and beyond and incredible scientists that have developed the vaccines that mean there is hope.
We are very pleased to have lots of new businesses that we supply inc The Henley Larder and The Cheese Shed at Nettlebed Creamery. I highly recommend a visit to both. Our sympathies are also with the many fabulous food and non-food businesses that were not able to trade properly.
Last year it was very difficult to plan with any confidence, we were living week to week, not knowing if another lockdown was round the corner. So, moving forward, one area where we expect to be devoting more time is NPD (new product development). We have already launched our Caramel Biscuit Meltaways (Biscoff spread is a major ingredient, but don’t tell anyone…. doh… too late). In fact, I think we might have a poll…. Should we simply call them Biscoff Meltaways? Check out The Socials (cringe) in the next few days for an actual poll. We have expanded the range further this week to include Milk and Dark Orange Meltaways too.
Our new Whisky pods (loads of whisky in a butter ganache in red and gold milk chocolate cocoa pods) are launching especially for Father’s Day and if they prove as popular as expected, next in line is a Brandy/Cognac pod…. watch this space.
We are also launching this week, our Affogato Truffles. Two layers, dark chocolate Coffee Ganache, made with freshly ground coffee topped off by a white chocolate Vanilla ganache in a white chocolate shell. I have never actually been a massive fan of Coffee flavoured chocolate (I love coffee, I love chocolate…just not together) but these are Bellisimo!!
Thank you for reading, I hope some of the new products are tempting and thank you again for your continued support. Fingers crossed that we can all have an amazing year.
See you next time.
Thanks
Matt
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