1 – To Reinforce The Value Of Your Brand

Personalised chocolate gifts are an effective and economical way to demonstrate to your customers, clients or employees that you’re proud of your brand. However, it’s entirely possible to create the wrong impression if the gifts that carry your logo are low quality. So before making a decision about your corporate chocolate boxes, ask yourself whether they are worthy of representing your company’s brand.

2 – To Keep In Touch With Your Customers

Most people are delighted to receive corporate chocolate gifts. So why not take the opportunity to include a marketing message about your company or brand? Perhaps you’ve launched a new product, service or website, or intend to exhibit your products at an upcoming trade fair. We don’t recommend printing the chocolates themselves, because once they’re eaten the message is gone. By including with your gift a high quality gift card, printed in full colour with your logo and message, you’re offering your customers vital information in a format that they can easily retain.

3 – To Raise Your Company Profile

In difficult economic times it’s understandable that many companies choose to cut their marketing budgets. But in doing so, there’s a danger that your customers can forget you, or move their business to a competitor. Sending your clients branded chocolate boxes – however small – is a cost-effective way to ensure that out of sight is not out of mind.

4 – To Thank Your Customers For Their Business

It’s a proven fact that acquiring a new customer is far more costly than retaining an existing one, so it goes without saying that it’s worth thanking your customers for giving you their business. However, many companies now have strict guidelines preventing employees from accepting high value gifts. That’s why chocolates are the perfect choice, because as a small-ticket item, they usually fall within acceptable gift value limits.

5 – To Thank Employees For A Job Well Done

We all like to be appreciated, and it doesn’t have to cost the earth to thank your staff for their hard work. A run of the mill gift, found in any supermarket, is unlikely to convey the messge that the company cares. Consider how much happier staff would be to receive an exclusive box of luxury chocolates, especially at Christmas. Small gifts for employees aren’t only about saying ‘thank you’, however; they’re also a reminder of why your company is a great place to work. Employees are, potentially, fantastic ambassadors for your brand and a small gift is just one way to reinforce that there’s no better place to work than right here!

Buy the Best Quality Chocolates You Can Afford

If you’re serious about sending a corporate gift that your most valued clients and employees will appreciate, then consider whether you’re buying the best quality chocolates you can afford.  It’s easy to save a few pence per box by buying cheap alternatives; but high quality corporate chocolates, made with pure ingredients and 100% cocoa butter, will not only delight recipients, they’ll also provide the most cost-effective return on investment.

Look Out For Hidden Charges

When comparing costs between providers of personalised chocolate gifts it’s easy to focus only on the quoted price per chocolate box.  However, many chocolate suppliers list set-up costs and printing as separate price components.  Depending on your order volume, these extra costs can increase the true unit price significantly, so be sure to ask each supplier to quote you all the costs you’ll pay for your personalised chocolate boxes, with no hidden extras.

Check Lead Times

Branded chocolate boxes are an extremely popular business gift choice, particularly at Christmas time, so it’s worth making your enquiries well ahead of the intended delivery date.  Different companies’ lead times vary but we recommend four weeks during the year, rising to six weeks in the run-up to Christmas.  This allows sufficient time for producing your personalised chocolates. Printed boxes, in particular need a longer lead time.  It pays to be cautious, so if you find a Christmas chocolates gifts supplier who offers to deliver personalised chocolate boxes two days before Christmas, and with only three days’ notice, ask to see examples of their previous print work to check the quality.  Remember that sending your clients poorly branded chocolate boxes can have an adverse affect on your brand, and is worse than sending them nothing at all.

Avoid Gimmicks

Gimmicks such as chocolate toolsets are perfect for children, but largely inappropriate as client and employee gifts, for two reasons.  Firstly, you cannot assume that the recipient will get (or indeed appreciate) the message you intended to send.  Secondly, gimmicky chocolate gifts are invariably made of poor quality chocolate because the quality of the chocolate is of secondary importance to gimmick itself.

Ask About Experience

Buying branded gifts can be a daunting task, especially if you haven’t sourced them before.  So when selecting personalised chocolate boxes it pays to find a supplier with experience, not only with chocolate and printed chocolate boxes but also in the corporate workplace.  Ask potential suppliers to explain how their service works.  For example, will you receive a written quotation and product samples you can review with your team?  If so, how quickly?  You may need to liaise with your company’s design agency, so what kind of logo artwork is required and what are the branding options available to you?  You’ll probably need to keep your team updated with your order progress, so how can you be sure your delivery deadline will be met?

Given the vast array of potential suppliers available online, it’s well worth taking the time to seek out a professional company that understand the constraints and pressures of the environment in which you work.  Your initial efforts will be rewarded with the highest standard of personal service and total product satisfaction.

And Finally …

The majority of clients will always remember the company that gave them an impressive gift.  So you can be confident in the knowledge that by sending luxury handmade chocolates, the value of your own brand is reinforced.

Like most of the French, Sarkozy is known to have a passion for high quality chocolate.  During his brief recuperation in hospital, he is said to have received over 4000 boxes of chocolate from well-wishers attempting to boost his morale.  Sarkozy remarked to journalists that the volume of chocolate boxes he received would take several lifetimes to consume.

Whether in our business and personal lives, we offer chocolate gifts as a gesture of affection, warmth or thanks.  So perhaps Sarkozy should take heart: At least 4000 French citizens are still on his side!

Dark chocolate contains essential antioxidants and flavanoids.  These are found naturally in plants and fruits – such as the cocoa bean – helping to shield them from environmental toxins.  So when we consume chocolate we too benefit from the power of antioxidants.

But before you reach for a quick-fix bar of Cadbury, Mars or Nestle chocolate, take note: the health benefits are derived only from quality dark chocolate containing a high percentage of cocoa solids.

Mass-produced, cheap chocolate is highly processed.   Its main components are milk, refined sugar and vegetable fat, which are far cheaper and more plentiful commodities compared to cocoa and cocoa butter.  This makes it cheaper to buy but it’s widely considered to be unhealthy and encourage weight gain.  In contrast, high quality dark chocolate is rich in cocoa butter and cocoa solids and so can be eaten in moderate quantities to enhance health.

Heart protection isn’t the only health benefit of chocolate.  If you’re reading this whilst at work, take note: consuming just 40g of high quality chocolate a day has also been found to reduce stress.  Time to take a break …

Tip 1 – Know Your Customer

We all love to receive an unexpected gift, but we also prefer to receive gifts we like – or at the very least, gifts we can use.  So sending call centre workers a set of golf balls is unlikely to generate much goodwill.  Consider how appropriate the intended gift is for the recipients.  It’s unlikely you’ll satisfy everyone but it’s worth aiming to please the majority.

Tip 2 – Avoid Gimmicks

Despite the choice of stress balls, snow domes and other creative corporate gift solutions, the most desirable business gifts continue to be traditional favourites such as fruit baskets, wine and chocolates.  But even in these categories it’s worth looking out for gimmicks: edible chocolate flowers, for example.  Why?  Because almost without exception, gimmicky products lack quality.  Gift recipients prefer a superior product over a clever gimmick – every time.

Tip 3 – Go For Quality

When you send a corporate gift you’re making a statement about the quality of your brand, so sending a poor quality gift can be a costly mistake.  If your budget is tight consider a smaller gift of high quality.  Recipients will thank you for it.

Tip 4 – Include a Gift Card

Sending a corporate gift without some form of a gift card is a wasted opportunity.  Having reminded the recipient of your brand, ensure they have something they can pin to their cubicle wall or department notice board.  A gift card printed with your company contact details is ideal for this purpose.

Tip 5 – Be Aware of Company Gift Policies

Many companies now have in place a gift policy, limiting the value of corporate gifts their employees can accept.  A gift of fairly low monetary value – typically under £10 – is considered acceptable within most company gift policies.

Tip 6 – Review Your Mailing List

If you’re planning a corporate gifts mailshot you’ll want to get the most value from your campaign. It’s all too easy to waste money sending gifts to people who’ve left the company or moved to a different role within it, so it’s worth reviewing your mailing list carefully beforehand.

The most important recipients should be your current customers, because they’re the most likely to buy your products or service again. Next, we recommend targeting those who have demonstrated an interest in your products or service – for example by requesting a quotation or a brochure about your company – as these are potential customers who may respond positively to a small reminder gift. You may also wish to target ‘influencers’, as these are the employees that sit between you and the potential decision-maker responsible for selecting your company for its products or service. Finally, there’s the new opportunities, ie those companies that fit within your target market. It’s worth a phone call to each one to establish who would be the most appropriate recipient for your corporate gift. Although this may appear a time-consuming exercise, it will ensure your mailing list is up to date and relevant.

So to food connoisseurs it comes as no surprise that the best chocolate in the world is made in France.  Visit any French city to find an astounding array of chocolateries, each offering tantalising chocolates displayed like fine jewels.  Not a sign of a mass-produced, sugar rush-inducing candy anywhere; just exquisite, handmade French chocolates created by second, third, even fourth generation chocolatiers, who practise their artisanal skills with a dedication bordering on obsession.  That’s the French for you. 

Britain, on the other hand – although calling itself a nation of chocolate-lovers – only started to show an interest in luxury chocolate in the mid-80s.  But despite our slow start, consumer trends over the past five years have shown that we’re undergoing something of a revolution in the way we choose to indulge our chocolate passion, and the gourmet sector is now the fastest growing within the chocolate market.

Largely driven by increased media interest in the health benefits that can be derived from regular consumption of high quality, dark chocolate, discerning British palates are now seeking to delight their tastebuds with new and exciting chocolate recipes made from pure, healthy ingredients.

In response to the growing number of Britain’s chocolate connoisseurs, Frenchman Pierre Soualah opened his Provence-inspired chocolate boutique – Chouchoute Chocolaterie – in Birmingham in 2002.  French for ‘pampered’, Chouchoute has since earned a reputation for its refined style and Pierre’s infinite enthusiasm to enlighten the British palate with a unique range of handmade French chocolates.

Together with his artisan chocolatier, Pierre has created a distinctive assortment of intensely-flavoured chocolates to challenge the palate of any discerning chocolate enthusiast.  “We use only the finest cocoa beans and noble ingredients such as cocoa butter and pure vanilla, blended with infusions such as cassis, aniseed, bergamot and hops to complement our soft ganaches and pralines perfectly”, says Pierre, adding that his recipes change according to the season, with the addition of fresh tastes and delicate aromas. 

Within the luxury chocolate sector its the so-called ‘super-premium’ niche – comprising the most luxurious, independent brands and specialist products – that’s attracting the most highly-sophisticated consumers, who value quality and provenance more than price alone. 

Pierre Soualah confirms that the interest in super-premium chocolate is being driven by those customers with refined tastes, adding that British demand for his luxury French chocolates has far exceeded his initial expectations.  “With the opening of Eurostar, travel to France has become even easier, and many British people have eagerly embraced French gastronomy”, says Pierre. “A lot of my customers tell me how pleased they were to find handmade French chocolates in the UK because they are the finest money can buy.” 

Chouchoute Chocolaterie offers a range of luxury handmade chocolates and confiserie items.  Click here to visit our consumer website to find out more.

Pierre originally trained as a ‘traiteur’ at Fauchon in Paris and Selfridges in London. With a desire to share his passion for fine chocolates with others, he crafted a unique assortment of intensely-flavoured chocolates with our artisan chocolatier. This exclusive range of luxury chocolates was so well-received by our Birmingham corporate clients that we created a chocolates range with corporate events, employee incentives and client Christmas gifts in mind.

We have selected the most popular chocolates in our range for our corporate chocolates menu. Pierre explains more below.

“When we eat chocolates we should experience a perfect balance between all the ingredients: the centre, the blended ingredients and the chocolate coating (known as couverture). All should enhance and complement one another. Their flavour should be like a happy, gastronomic marriage: light, delicate and subtle.

Our handmade ganaches and pralines are the ‘canvas’ for our chocolates. We then delicately blend and infuse other ingredients such as coffee, cassis or sea-salted caramel, each of which brings their own aroma, flavour and texture to further enhance the depth of our chocolates. Finally, with superior cocoa beans and noble ingredients such as cocoa butter and pure vanilla pod, we create a fine couverture for each chocolate. The result is a chocolate with depth – a powerful taste with high, aromatic quality.”

Our luxury chocolates are beautifully presented in personalised or unbranded gift boxes in a variety of sizes across two ranges. Our handmade chocolates are the perfect example of affordable luxury, proving that it’s perfectly possible to amaze and delight your clients and employees with even the smallest, but well-chosen gift.

We hope our chocolates bring you as much pleasure as they brought us in creating them.

To find out more about how to taste gourmet chocolate for maximum enjoyment please visit our chocolate tasting guide.

Chocolate and wine are a difficult match, which is why we only recommend wines that complement chocolate, rather than conflict with it. Below are two of our favourite dessert wines.

Mas Amiel Maury

Made from 100% grenache grapes, this wonderful red dessert wine is initially kept for a year in glass demi-johns in the open air, exposing it to extreme fluctuations in temperature. It is then aged for another year in oak casks, resulting in a bouquet of red fruits dominated by cherries and blackberries. Opulent on the palate, it has an excellent balance of sugar and alcohol that is perfectly suited to enjoying with chocolate whilst still young. Serve slightly chilled.

Chateau Haut Roquefort

The fact that this wine is produced by Michel Pion is, in itself, a guarantee of exceptional quality. Its golden colour and complex bouquet of honey, tropical, crystallised fruits and hazelnuts makes it an ideal complement to gourmet chocolate. Serve chilled.

How To Taste Chocolates: Five Senses

All of our senses are engaged in the tasting and enjoyment of fine quality chocolate, although some are more active than others. Recognising this will enhance the sensual pleasure and joy of discovery that may be achieved during the tasting activity.

Enjoying Gourmet Chocolate With Wine

We recommend that the wine is tasted first. Then, take a bite of the chocolate piece, allowing it to melt on the tongue as explained above and breathe in and out through the nose to release the chocolate’s aromas.

It’s best not to drink wine whilst chocolate is in the mouth; rather, allow the different flavours and textures to complement each other, enhancing the overall tasting experience. Cleanse the palate with water before tasting the next wine.

If you would like any further advice on matching luxury chocolates with fine wines, or if you have any recommendations that you’d like to share, please contact Pierre Soualah at our Birmingham store on 0121 233 1300, or email us at sales@chouchoute.co.uk.

© Chouchoute Chocolaterie

“From bean to bar, it’s a long journey from the tropical cocoa plantation to the taster’s palate. Even more so for artisan-produced chocolate, which relies on the expertise of the master chocolatier to source the finest cocoa beans and lovingly craft them into exquisite, luxury chocolates.

There are many obstacles to overcome before finally achieving the maximum pleasure possible from gourmet chocolate and the painstaking pursuit of quality alone is enough to justify a well-organised chocolate tasting.

How to organise a chocolate tasting

Chocolate-tasting is often likened to wine-tasting, which similarly involves the eye, nose and mouth. It doesn’t require any training or expertise, but there are some important guidelines to follow for the tasting to be as enjoyable and enlightening an experience as possible. I should therefore like to offer my own guide for organising an informal group chocolate-tasting.

Chocolate-tasting is best enjoyed as a group activity, even though it’s inevitable that participants will distract each other! Tasting – as distinct from simply eating – is a sociable activity during which I would encourage preferences, impressions and knowledge to be shared, particularly by those in the group fortunate enough to possess a more developed palate than others.

When determining which chocolates to taste, I recommend that you limit the range to either milk or dark chocolate – not both. This is because the varying degrees of sweetness and creaminess of milk and dark chocolate do not allow the palate to focus clearly on each chocolate’s characteristics. By maintaining this focus, you can easily identify differences associated with each chocolate’s origin, without being distracted by the differing sugar content or dairy components that mask some flavours and enhance others. It’s for this reason that I prefer chocolate tastings that involve dark chocolate bars of pure origin, as they contain less sugar and no milk.

Chocolate of pure origin may mean single country origin (where all the cocoa beans used to make the chocolate are derived from one country, but different plantations) or single estate origin (where all the cocoa beans are derived from one plantation).

At the risk of disappointing you, I also urge you to limit the number of chocolates tasted to six or seven – nine at the very most. If you intend to enjoy filled chocolates (sometimes called bon bons) as well as pure chocolate bars during the tasting, it is always preferable to taste the bars before the filled chocolates. This is because bon bons filled with praline or ganache will usually include a little cream. Avoid fondant-filled chocolates as part of a group tasting, as these will not contribute anything useful to your understanding of different quality chocolate.

Chocolate Bars

When tasting single country or single estate origin chocolate, the aim is to distinguish the original characteristics of the chocolate. As you might expect, cocoa beans grown near banana trees will turn into distinctly different chocolate to beans grown in a volcanic region, and it is perfectly possible to distinguish these differences.

Filled Chocolates (Ganache/Praline)

Tasting filled chocolates is about recognising the artisanal skill of the individual chocolatier, whose style – like an haute couture designer – is unique to his range. Try to analyse the depth of the cocoa, texture of the filling and any blends or aromatisations added to the filling to complement it, such as spices, fruits, vanilla or coffee. The filling should never overpower the chocolate; it should be subtle, perhaps even difficult to detect. The finish in your mouth should be clean – never oily or sickly-sweet – as these are signs of lower quality chocolate.

It’s worth including one or two mass-produced, premium high street chocolates in your tasting range, alongside chocolates handmade by artisans in a traditional fashion. I’m sure you’ll find distinct differences, and it’s only by doing this that you can truly appreciate the level of creativity and attention to detail achieved by the artisanal chocolatier.

How To Taste Chocolates: Five Senses

All of our senses are engaged in the tasting and enjoyment of fine quality chocolate, although some are more active than others. Recognising this will enhance the sensual pleasure and joy of discovery that may be achieved during the tasting activity.

For further advice or recommendations before conducting a chocolate-tasting activity, please contact Pierre Soualah at our Birmingham store on 0121 233 1300, or email us at sales@chouchoute.co.uk

© Chouchoute Chocolaterie