Tag Archives: Karl

The World’s First Chocolatiers’ Convention. What’s Hot in Chocolate

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Frost recently got a golden ticket to The World’s First Chocolatiers’ Convention, and yes, we were just as excited as the kids in the Wille Wonka film. The convention was organised by Kennedy’s Confection Magazine and we heard the best and most impressive chocolate makers talk. A.Boyd Tunnock was a particular favourite. I had a good chat with Boyd who invented the Tunnock tea cake in 1960. He is as nice as he is brilliant.

Here are my highlights.

Pekka Rantala, managzing director of OY Karl Fazer, talked about Fazer becoming a €1.6 billion company. Fazer have teamed up with Angry Birds to make some really cool Angry Birds sweets. Okay, they are not chocolate but they are bang on trend. Check out the cool video below.

Next up was Peter Meadows from California Raisins. Peter says that raisins are just dried out grapes. The grapes are picked and layed out to dry. They are harvested in late August and there is a two-to-three week drying process. Raisins are 1 £500 million industry. In Tesco raisins are the second biggest bagged snack after Maltesers.

A. Boyd Tunnock CBE is the grandson of the founder and the inventor of the Tunnock Tea Cake. Tunnock’s was started in 1890 by Thomas Tunnock. They expanded in the 1950’s. Tunnock’s makes 9 million biscuits a week at their Uddingston factory and Boyd says, ‘When success comes you have no idea how, you just keep going.’

Boyd’s eldest gandson, Colin, works for Cadbury. Boyd says that he has a toy store compared to them but he is happy with it.

9 out of 10 people eat chocolate.

Sophi Tranchell MBE, managing director of farmer-owned Divine Chocolate. Average income for a cocoa farmer is £328 per year. 80% of the chocolate industry is owned by three companies. When a survey was done in West Africa only one child out of 250 wanted to be a cocoa farmer. Divine Chocolate are impressive. They aim to improve the livelihood of cocoa farmers in West Africa. Chocolate for those who want to buy ethically.

Francisco Redruello is a senior food analyst and had some great information and Willie Harcourt-Cooze. Willie is a well known chocolate maker and entrepreanur who came to fame in Channel 4 documentary Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory. We tried some of his chocolate and it is good.

Body language expert Judi James then turned the lights on and gave us all chocolate. She gave an excellent talk on chocolate and body language and then said what our chocolate eating habits meant. Judi says we only share chocolate to make ourselves look good, but I don’t believe her. Do you?

Predictions in the chocolate industry from Angus Kennedy.

Personalisation of the product.
Bolder tastes like cheese & wine, pumpkin, chilli, olive oil, bacon and carrot.
More indulgence. Chocolate with an indulgent appeal.
Smaller packets. As the recession kicks in, packs get smaller but stay the same price.
Sharing. 56% of people like to share.
Healthier chocolate. For people who are lactose intolerant for example. Did you know that 90% of people in Africa are lactose intolerant and 70% in United Kingdom and 20% in all of Europe.

The Soon to be Famous Five make a big Splash in the Great Big Monster Sea Swim

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A FIRST: Five ordinary guys in wetsuits take on a swimming relay race and attempt to cross the English channel from Guernsey in the Channel Islands to South Devon in England in 48 hours = The Great Big Monster Sea Swim.

The FIRST EVER swim relay crossing from Guernsey in the Channel Islands to South Devon in England called the Great Big Monster Sea Swim (GBMSS) is announced today. The five man team; Paul, Karl, John, Bruce and Jon will swim the non-stop relay from 27-29 August 2012 and attempt to make the crossing in only 48 hours whilst raising funds for Teenage Cancer Trust. The Great Big Monster Sea Swim is the headline event of The Sanofi 1000 Mile Challenge which centres around health and fitness activities and encourages all Sanofi Group employees in the UK and Ireland to challenge themselves to achieve over 1000 miles collectively over the next year thereby raising over £100,000 for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Paul Irwin, GBMSS team member comments, “Training has been underway since January as we have to be seriously prepared for what we will face – anything from tankers in the dark to mental exhaustion. The team are really excited and slightly apprehensive about the challenge as there will be tough decisions to make that may hurt the individual but benefit the team”.

Six time world swimming champion and Teenage Cancer Trust supporter, Mark Foster comments, “The Sanofi 1000 Mile Challenge for Teenage Cancer Trust is a great initiative centred around promoting wellbeing and personal growth. As well as inspiring and encouraging participants to challenge themselves, they will also be raising money for an important cause.”

The GBMSS team is proud to be wearing sailfish wetsuits and Saltrock Surfwear and grateful for the support of both Enigma Charters who are providing a 72ft boat and skipper to carry the support crew and Lifedge for providing equipment.

To sponsor the Great Big Monster Sea Swim and help raise funds for Teenage Cancer Trust, please go donate by going online at www.justgiving.com/GBMSS or text GBMS 81 to 70070.

To follow the swim team’s journey visit Paul Irwin’s blog here, http://sanofi-inspires.co.uk/blog/12 and also follow the team’s progress on twitter @GBMSS.