The sweet taste of success: the ethical chocolatier does things her way
When Amarachi Clarke decided to be one of the UK's few chocolatiers, she faced a wave of criticism for her alternative approach.
< p class="dcr-h3dclz">"Chocolate has always been made with refined white sugar," says Clarke, 38. sweetener instead."The result was Lucocoa, started in the bedroom of his apartment, and now a thriving artisanal chocolate-making company with a factory and a boutique in Bermondsey, south-east London and a website (lucocoachocolate.com) for online sales Clarke's chocolate is handcrafted from rare varieties of cocoa beans from Haiti, Belize, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, and promises an ethical supply chain.
"There was a small group of self-proclaimed chocolate strongholds from the bean to the bar [for whom] what I was doing was a big change,” says Clarke. “Bloggers wrote: ‘Chocolate must be made with white sugar! Why is that?’ and I was kicked out of the events. It was like hitting a brick wall, that I had to ask for permission just to work in this industry.
Clarke continued, and over the eight years she had the idea to create her own style of chocolate, Lucocoa won four Great Taste Awards and is stored in high-end retailers.
When Amarachi Clarke decided to be one of the UK's few chocolatiers, she faced a wave of criticism for her alternative approach.
< p class="dcr-h3dclz">"Chocolate has always been made with refined white sugar," says Clarke, 38. sweetener instead."The result was Lucocoa, started in the bedroom of his apartment, and now a thriving artisanal chocolate-making company with a factory and a boutique in Bermondsey, south-east London and a website (lucocoachocolate.com) for online sales Clarke's chocolate is handcrafted from rare varieties of cocoa beans from Haiti, Belize, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic, and promises an ethical supply chain.
"There was a small group of self-proclaimed chocolate strongholds from the bean to the bar [for whom] what I was doing was a big change,” says Clarke. “Bloggers wrote: ‘Chocolate must be made with white sugar! Why is that?’ and I was kicked out of the events. It was like hitting a brick wall, that I had to ask for permission just to work in this industry.
Clarke continued, and over the eight years she had the idea to create her own style of chocolate, Lucocoa won four Great Taste Awards and is stored in high-end retailers.
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