I’ve recently started working with Original Beans across all the chocolate in my work at Atelier. It’s been a considered decision and a significant investment, made to ensure I’m working with cacao of the highest quality I can access.
That matters on a few levels. Flavour profile and the ability to tell a clear story through each chocolate are central, but so is sustainability and doing the best I can for the planet. Cacao is not grown in the UK, so transparency in sourcing feels even more important. I want to understand where it comes from, how it’s grown, and what impact that has.
Original Beans is widely recognised as a leader in sustainable chocolate, consistently ranked at the top of the Chocolate Scorecard for its environmental and social standards.
Their approach is built around protecting rare cacao varieties and the ecosystems they come from. All cacao is sourced through regenerative agroforestry, with over 3.5 million trees planted in tropical forest regions since 2010.
Their model also focuses on people as much as land, with farmers supported to earn a living income that is often significantly above conventional benchmarks, alongside training programmes that have reached thousands of growers, including a strong focus on women in farming communities.
The supply chain is fully traceable, allowing for complete transparency and no use of child or forced labour.
Finding chocolate that is both genuinely exceptional in flavour and aligned with this level of responsibility feels like a rare combination.
I’ve worked with ethical chocolate previously where the flavour profile didn’t quite meet the standard I need for Atelier. That hasn’t been the case here. Every origin was tasted before I made this shift, and that process directly shaped my new signature collection, which has now launched.
Half of the range focuses on single origin chocolate, from 82% dark through to 42% milk, each allowing the cacao to speak clearly and reflect its origin.
The other half stays rooted in my patisserie background. Flavours such as raspberry rose, made using my own preserves, and coffee hazelnut, built around roasted hazelnuts and praline paired with a Peruvian dark chocolate ganache, sit alongside others in the collection. I want the range to feel distinctly ours, and consistently delicious.
It felt right to create a balance between single origin pieces that let the cacao and its environment lead, and more creative work where I can continue to draw on my pastry experience.
The chocolate itself has more than stood up to the demands of production, including shelling and capping, which anyone who has worked with chocolate will know can make or break a finished piece depending on consistency.
I’m genuinely excited to share this next chapter. I can’t wait for you to taste these chocolates, find your favourites, and follow the collection as it evolves over time.