‘Chocolate with a conscience’
Stephen Rudkin, founder of The Organic Seed & Bean Company, tells Confectionery Production about the background to his ethical chocolate brand.
The Organic Seed & Bean Company strives to ensure that it produces ‘chocolate with a conscience’. All of its chocolate bars are Fairtrade and Soil Association approved, ensuring cocoa farmers get a fair deal and the environment is being respected. The ingredients are organic and even the wrappers are biodegradeable.
Rudkin’s background is in the organic food business. “I got my passion for organic chocolate when I was a buyer for Holland and Barrett and then for Green & Black’s in the mid 1990s,” he says.
When the investors moved in on Green & Blacks in 2005, Rudkin decided to go it alone. Having been immersed in the world of selling organic for 25 years, he felt he had the right knowledge base to build on and took out some business loans to get things started.
“I decided to build on what we were doing at Green & Black’s, but to make it more artisan, made in England in small batches, and produced and sold because of its great taste and not just because it was organic,” he explains.
Seed & Bean chocolate is produced in batches of just 45 litres. “Most start at 10,000-40,000 litres and are rarely make in the UK,” says Rudkin.
“We produce white, milk and dark chocolate,” he continues. “We also have chocolate for vegans and vegetarians,” he adds.
With 18 different flavour bars, the company prides itself on using real fruit rather than flavourings to create the range. “Our inclusions are always what the label says they are, which is why the chocolate is so full of flavour,” he explains.
Sea Salt is the current best seller and mini bars are the latest addition to the range, but the company is always looking forward to new seasonal lines and the next new flavours. “Product development is always in progress in my kitchen,” he adds.
Changing tides
Rudkin has embraced the growing popularity of smaller artisan brands. “With my ‘ethical’ flag waving, there is less and less competition as the larger companies get stronger and bigger and swallow up many of the independents, but this cycle in turn is creating a new wave of smaller creative chocolate businesses that are filling the niche or a niche for those that are turning away from those big multinationals,” he says.
He also acknowledges the importance of branding in a competitive market. “Sadly packaging is everything,” he says. “We had to find the money for a redesign. We did it ourselves before, but Family (and friends) Branding and Packaging Design has such a brilliant format to extract the exact words that make the business what it is. Then they get creative.
“The hardest single thing to do is to come up with a design that represents the brand and doesn’t look like any one else, yet is still contemporary and will retain the existing audience.”
Markets
Chocolate from The Organic Seed & Bean Company is currently available in most North European countries from outlets including health stores, delis, chocolate shops and increasingly online. “Outside the UK and Denmark, nearly all ‘cold’ European countries sell in the same manner. It’s a delight to export and we thrive on it,” says Rudkin.
In terms of expansion, the company plans to grow to four times its size over the next three years. Brand promotion currently takes place via tastings, social media, advertising and of course trade shows.
“We attend Biofach every year in Nurenburg, Germany,” he explains. “It’s the biggest organic show is the world and there are always amazing products represented by people that truly care about food and the way it’s made. Other shows we attend include Natural & Organic Products Europe and IFE in London, plus we support and attend regional speciality trade shows.”
Seed & Bean also attended ISM – the International Sweets and Biscuits Fair in January for the first time this year. “It was our first time promoting at a major confectionery trade show. We were exceptionally pleased with the response and stood out against the other more conventional chocolate brands with our big hitting full flavours and unusual combinations. We attracted interest from the US and Germany, two markets that we are very much targeting. I feel our dramatic new look has also drawn attention to our proposition, so all in all very positive,” he says.
The future
In terms of plans for the future of the business, Rudkin prefers not to give too much away. “That’s a secret,” he laughs. “But I have finally found organic caramel after four years of looking and testing, which is very exciting for us,” he concludes.
