Allison Roberts is a Canadian chocolatier who lives with her husband Justin in Clonakilty, Co Cork. She has been experimenting with chocolate since she was nine years old and now her adopted home of Clonakilty has inspired a full range of fairtrade chocolate. From her 38% Milky Milk to her 70% Espresso Bean bars to her 80% raw cacao range, her chocolate is the real deal.
Tell us about your early influences in becoming a chocolatier and how you came to see it as an entrepreneurial opportunity at quite a young age.
I love craft markets and there was a woman where I grew up in Canada who had a chocolate stall every Christmas – I thought making shapes out of chocolate was brilliant. I dragged my mom to a chocolate course when I was 12 after having experimented a bit from home and next thing we knew the spare room in the basement became ‘the chocolate room’. I started my first chocolate business when I was 12, selling to my parents’ friends and at the school yard.
After studying media and travelling in Taiwan and Australia, arriving in Ireland at the beginning of the recession in 2008 was actually good timing for me, jobs were few and so it was the right time to restart the chocolate business. I was up and running for the first Christmas season but we weren’t sure if we were here to stay, so it’s taken a few years to realize that Clonakilty is home and I suppose the last two years I’ve come back to calling it my ‘job’.
What is the process involved in creating a bar of Clonakilty Chocolate, from sourcing to packaging?
First the beans are grown by Kuapa Kokoo farmers in Ghana which are sold in bulk to a Belgian company that then conches and mixes the winnowed roasted nibs. I source the result, referred to as ‘couveture’ which we, as chocolatiers, temper and use as a base to create delicious treats. I also make raw & glucose-free bars by sourcing cacao powder and butter and using a high-powered blender to conche. My bars are made by tempering small batches by hand, adding flavours and pouring into moulds, I then package them up in brilliant biodegradable wrap and load them onto my bike to take to market & local shops. I also like to make hollow and novelty shapes, like my frogs and turtles filled with homemade caramel – they make people smile.
You recently visited Ghana as a representative of the Clonakilty Fair Trade committee where you met the producers of the cocoa beans you have been using to create your chocolate. What was it like to see first-hand their processes? Has it changed your outlook on your own processes at all?
It was amazing. The atmosphere at a cacao plantation is lush and quiet, miles away from the image the word ‘farm’ conjures in Northern climes. I was beside myself with glee seeing and then touching and then tasting my first cacao fresh from the tree. I found out that the Fairtrade co-op in Ghana that I source from is only able to sell 20% of their cacao on the fairtrade market, the rest has to be sold on the open market which means that the cooperative is struggling to build the community infrastructure they would like to for the rural communities where cacao is grown. This revelation made me think of how growing my small business in West Cork could be of benefit both locally and in Ghana.
Being a chocolatier is a lot of people’s dream job. Is it sustainable as a small, independent business in Ireland? Are there support structures (government grants, accessible information/advice etc) in place to make it easier for small businesses like yourself?
We live quite simply which I think is important for anyone trying to run their own small business, and I’m happy to grow the business very slowly, keeping my overheads low. I spent time studying permaculture in recent years and apply its principals to both my life and business which helps me make the most of what I have.
Now that I’m ready to expand production (since returning from Ghana inspired by cacao farmers and the amazing small businesses we visited – check out ‘trashy bags’) I’ve started checking out available support for small businesses. There are grants available for machines etc through local enterprise boards and a lot of market research and business development support available. Everyone I’ve been in touch with has been friendly and very encouraging – the staff at the business desk at the ILAC Centre library are particularly lovely!
If you can’t make it to Clonakilty, Co Cork for their Saturday market to pick up some of Allison’s wonderful chocolate bars, you can also order online at www.clonakiltychocolate.com. She is currently looking for Dublin stockists so keep an eye on her website for news on where you can pick up a bar locally.
RECIPE
Caramel Bike Bombs
By Allison Roberts on Clonakilty Chocolate
These treats are the perfect energy boost for your next cycle trip.
Ingredients
About 150g of your favourite thickly set caramel (buy some in your local sweet shop or make your own)
100g of your favourite 70%+ Clonakilty Chocolate
A medium handful of Apricots, Hazelnuts, Sunflower Seeds, Almonds & Raw Cacao Nibs (or whatever combination you have in the cupboard) chopped roughly
A small handful of Hazelnuts (or any other nut) chopped finely
Cocoa Powder
Things you will need
Double-boiler (stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering water)
Parchment paper – dusted with cocoa powder
Method
Cut your caramel into small chunks & roll into a ball the size of a marble.
Break chocolate into pieces and melt in a stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering water – remove from heat once most of chocolate has melted and stir until all chunks have dissolved. Stir in your chopped mix of nuts, fruits & seeds.
Drop the caramel balls one at a time into chocolate nutty mix, roll around and fetch out with a small spoon, making sure to get a good few chunks of the mix, and drop in lumps onto prepared parchment paper. Finish by sprinkling with finely chopped hazelnuts.
Repeat until all your caramel balls are coated, returning the bowl to the double-boiler for short bursts when your mix gets too thick. Feel free to tip out any remaining mix onto your parchment to enjoy as a well earned snack.
Leave in a cool room to set, which should take no more than 30 min. Test one straight away and bag the rest in small groups to take with you on bicycle adventures!
The high sugar content in the caramel and the long shelf life of other ingredients mean that these bike bombs will last for months in an airtight container.
