Something is stirring in the world of chocolate. In the past few years, sales of high-end or artisan-made products have soared, while a new wave of young British chocolatiers has emerged, challenging the traditional French and Belgian supremacy in this rarefied area. Retailers say chocolate buyers have become more knowledgable and demanding, making this sector into one of the key battlefields of the foodie revolution.
Cast your mind back 10 or 15 years and remember what “fine chocolate” meant then to most of us. A bar of Swiss Lindt or Suchard, perhaps, or a box of intriguingly shell-shaped Guylian Belgian chocolates, bought from the delicatessen or an upscale supermarket such as Waitrose. Or maybe a box of fine chocolates from an established British producer such as Bendicks of Mayfair or Charbonnel et Walker of Bond Street (whose rose and violet creams were apparently a favourite of the late Queen Mother’s). Even high street outlets such as Thorntons were not then a complete no-go area for the “connoisseur”, while a box of Black Magic was for many still a byword for quality and sophistication, just as it was when the brand first appeared in the 1930s.
