With many years as a chef and a decade in the chocolate industry specialising in commercial production, my recent work has included developing new products for renowned brands such as Selfridges, Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, East India Company and Daylesford.
As a Development Chef and Production Supervisor at Prestat, I had the privilege of creating the Easter egg that was presented to the Queen on behalf of the company.
The philosophy I work to whilst developing products is:
– Final appearance/wow factor
– Taste
– Cost effectiveness
– Efficiency of production
Having worked across a range of companies differing in size from a start-up, to an artisanal producer, to full-scale commercial production I understand the potential pitfalls for each of these differing stages of production and will be able to advise a business of any size on how to navigate these issues.
Services I offer include setting up suppliers, sourcing ingredients, sourcing equipment, streamlining existing production, training production staff, developing new products and ranges, improving current product range, traceability systems and paperwork, health and safety, allergens, certain aspects of HACCP, organising microbial and shelf life testing, locating production facilities and white label production.
I have experience of NPD and using ingredients across a wide range of specialist areas such as:
– Organic
– Kosher
– Halal
– Scalability
– Uniqueness
– Shelf life
– Sugar free
– Gluten free
– Vegan
Previous products developed:
– Ganaches
– Caramels
– Candies/gummies
– Honeycomb/butterscotch
– Fondant crèmes
– Moulded truffles/bonbons
– Framed and enrobed items
– Branded chocolates
– Filled bars
– Decorated bars
– Easter eggs and other hollow figures
– Novelty chocolates/confections
– Nougat
– Marshmallow
– Popcorn
– Fudge
– Chocolate slabs
– Toffee
I have also worked with and co-sourced a range of equipment and machinery one would find in commercial confectionery production, such as:
– Continuous and semi continuous chocolate tempering machines
– Melting tanks
– Stand mixers
– One shot depositers
– Knobel fillers and cutters
– Enrobing lines
– Dusting lines
– Spinning machines
– Panning
– Spray guns
– Guitar cutters
– Commercial ovens and stoves
– Chocolate moulds/personalised moulds
– Frames
– Trolleys and trays