I love buying local and I really really love chocolate, so this combination is essential knowledge!
I can't quite put my finger on why, but I think Josh's Chocolate is my favourite. I love the colourful, laid-back branding, and the 'Weekends on the Water' bars (Sea Salt & Caramel) never last long in my house! So delicious.
Having grown up on his family's farm here in Cornwall, Josh retuned in 2019 with a mission to make great chocolate, and it has been great to see this wholesome brand go from strength to strength!
'Bean to Bar' small batch chocolate made locally near Falmouth, Chocolarder is a creative brand who always seem to be coming up with innovative new flavours - a recent Instagram competition got everyone guessing what was coming next!
They also do gift box truffles and had some incredible crafted Easter Eggs this year too.
Trenance Chocolate makes higher-end luxury chocolate boxes and gift sets from their 'Chocolate Factory' which is on the road to Mullion Cove.
When restrictions allow, you can also watch the masters at work, creating filled, flavoured and enrobed chocolate as well as 'chocolate pasties'.
Based in Penryn, Rio Nuevo is not so much a confectionary chocolate brand, but ethical sourcers of sustainable cacao drinking chocolate and highest-quality chocolate ingredients for cooking.
The couple behind the business were shown how to make chocolate by the local residents in Ecuador and learnt about cacao heritage and the current struggles that many cacao farmers face. Working directly with farmers, they shorten the supply chain to make sure that the right people get a fair price for their products. Empowering communities and facilitating change comes through as an essential thread of this brand, with extensive detail on their website about process and impact.
...and I couldn't miss out the classic Kernow Chocolate! To me, this brand seems bigger and better-known than many of the others that have started up more recently. Another family business, they have been going since 2005 and these days the factory has a shop, a café and a viewing area where visitors can watch the chocolate being made by hand. I haven't visited yet, but it will definitely be on my list when I'm next up near Wadebridge!
