Cocoa Amore: A Chocdown Story
So, what have we been up to since the beginning of lockdown?
It’s almost time to welcome you all back into our stores. Friday 3rd of July is around the corner and we really can’t wait! It’s been a pretty surreal few months and we thought it was a good opportunity to reflect and fill you in on what we’ve been up to since we shut our doors on the Monday 23rd March.
Lockdown begins
As the Government announced that Monday night that all non-essential shops were to shut and people were to #StayAtHome and isolate, we knew we had to adapt quickly. The first step to take was to optimise our website and make sure you could buy everything online that you’d find in store. Just because our doors were shut didn’t mean you couldn’t have your favourite chocolatey treats at home! We knew, now more than ever, chocolate would be needed!
Home Chocolate Kits
With our Chocolate Workshops on hold for the foreseeable future and many of us staying indoors, having difficulties around mental or emotional well-being, we wanted to create fun chocolatey activities for you at home. It was also clear to us that parents faced Home-Schooling challenges with this “new normal”. We thought Lolly and Truffle Making Kits were the perfect way to engage kids in different skills that weren’t just pen and paper-based. Within a week of this idea, video content had been shot and instruction sheets designed for you to follow. We were thrilled to see the photos you tagged us in on social media! We loved seeing all the families getting involved, having fun and getting creative. Chocolate Making Kits are definitely something we’ll continue to do and expand on.
Easter
With Easter fast approaching in the middle of April, we now had the challenge of making sure you all got your Easter Eggs in one piece. The pandemic could never have come at a convenient time but just before Easter was not ideal for chocolatiers. Our team had been busy in the kitchen handcrafting eggs since the beginning of January (as this is our second busiest time of year). We were absolutely overwhelmed with the volume of online orders from you! With a scaled-back team working shorter hours and the Royal Mail postal service facing a backlog, we were up against it. There were a few casualties of eggs that had melted or broken in transit but we made sure to rectify this with replacements as soon as possible! Easter was saved and you sent us some lovely messages that let us know we were helping you during the tough circumstances. The immense amount of support you showed us that The Cocoa Community was still strong!
Eco Packaging
The Spring season turned out warmer than we’d anticipated. Anyone that loves chocolate, knows that hot temperatures and chocolate don’t mix well. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for us to realise that we were facing some packaging issues. We managed to source better packaging to protect our deliveries and make them courier-proof. Not only was it an improvement, but our new packaging peanuts are eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable and compostable. Thank you to Kite Packaging for helping us help the environment.
Noir Range
The next focus for us was to fully launch our brand new Noir Range. Featuring a refined selection of products in sleek, black packaging with our logo in gold-foil, this is definitely something that has the edge. The minimalist design and touch of colour work beautifully together. Judging from your feedback and the repeat orders, you’ve loved this new range as much as we have! If you haven’t had a chance to explore yet, browse our online shop www.cocoa-amore.co.uk/shop
After we launched this successfully online, the next step was to create a brochure for wholesalers. If you’d like to discuss stocking our Noir Range in your retail space, please get in touch with us on sales@cocoa-amore.co.uk
Reopening
As things are slowly getting back to normal and beginning to reopen, we’re gearing up to welcome you all back into our stores on Friday 3rd July. We’re still very busy with Online and Wholesale orders from retailers, so we’ve made the decision to open with fewer hours to start with. But, we will keep you in the loop as and when we can increase this gradually. You’ll notice a few changes and necessary measures to make sure your shopping experience is as safe as possible with us: Floor signs, one-way systems, posters and perspex screens have all been put in place. Our café seating has been removed from our Silver Street shop but you are still welcome to order drinks for takeaway. The Summer is on its way, so there will be Frappshakes and Gelato available! A Click and Collect service will be introduced online soon, we will update you when this is ready to launch. There will also be a few new exciting features for you to enjoy in both our stores which we can’t reveal just yet… Watch this space.
And Finally, Thank You
The whole team at Cocoa Amore want to thank all of you wonderful customers that have supported us during Lockdown and spread the love with our chocolate. It has meant everything to us. We look forward to seeing you very soon.
