Club News D164

Club News

The monthly newsletter from the Tasting Club

Issue 1307

State of the Tart Nothing beats this knock-out Raspberry and Crème Fraîche Tart recipe, created by one of our chocolatiers.

More on page 7

Little

Chocolatiers Q. What links a village school in Devon with a medical centre in Ghana?

The first batch of Young Farmers embark on new lives as cocoa farmers with the help of their new mentors

Planting

new seeds

In GHANA

It’s been an exciting month for news from Ghana – we’re thrilled to see the first participants in our new Young Farmers Support Scheme, helping young people to beat the obstacles to becoming a successful cocoa farmer.

1307NL

Twelve candidates have been chosen from 23 applicants to participate in the scheme. The successful 18- to 33-year-olds impressed the selectors with their entrepreneurial flair – most had already taken steps to improve their skills or find financial support – as well as their commitment to cocoa farming as a livelihood and not just a hobby... continued on page 8...

A. See page 13.

Ghana Appeal Target:

£45,000

Current Amount:

£24,396

If you would like to contribute to the Appeal to fund the Osuben Medical Clinic (CHPS).

Please send a cheque for whatever amount you can give made payable to: The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send to: CTC Ghana Appeal, FREEPOST ANG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD.

Letter from the guest

Editor

CONTENTS Page 1, 8-9

Ghana: planting new seeds

3

Cocoa countries: Ecuador

4

Prize draw results

4

Last call: Fortified

5

New special: Tuck Box

6

Focus: Milk selection

7

Summer Desserts: recipe card

10-11

Monthly box scores & feedback

12

An event for the diary: Excellence

13 14

Create a chocolate: goes back to school News & results: Ghana Appeal

14

News & results: Six of the best scores

O

ur guest editor this issue is Judy Buckley, Head of Guest Relations at our Boucan Hotel on Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia, who has been deeply involved in the restoration of the estate and the creation of Boucan since the beginning.

It’s an honour to be the guest editor for this issue, and after spending two fun-packed weeks with Tasting Club members at Rabot, it’s a wonderful opportunity to share my story with other members.

When I arrived on the island over seven years ago with my husband to embark on this amazing adventure, I had no real idea what to expect. The cocoa plantation reminded me of Jurassic Park – so green, lush and alive it felt primordial.

In 2006 we had only 12 employees; today, we have 117.

And that shows how much our business has grown. It hasn’t been easy; plans have gone awry, and the experience can be stressful. But the challenge can also make you strong.

One of the most devastating situations I have been through during my time in Saint Lucia was when Hurricane Tomas hit in 2010. The impact on the island was huge, leaving many people stranded without power and water for weeks, including us.

I can’t tell you how inspiring it was to see how our team responded: over 80 per cent struggled into work the next day and were immediately deployed with chainsaws, machetes and building materials to help local communities and clear the roads.

The hotel spa was just about to be built, but we put that on hold, using the material to help rebuild people’s homes and put roofs back on. Many families had been left homeless, so the work force pooled their money together to create 30 food boxes, hand-delivered by the team.

It showed me the true Saint Lucian spirit of pulling together in times of need, and what a fantastic team we had built. Guests at Boucan often ask me if I own the hotel; I haven’t invested money, but I have invested my heart and soul, blood, sweat and tears!

15 Pioneers

of chocolate: Frank & Forrest Mars

Judy Buckley Send your letters to The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston SG8 5HL, or simply email editor@ hotelchocolat.co.uk or via our website: www.chocs.co.uk.

We are waiting to hear from you!

Contributors: Iain Ball, Judy Buckley, Simon Thirlwell, Terry Waters Design: Andy Linney, Sarah McKewan © The Chocolate Tasting Club plc 2013

2

Head of Guest Relations & Guest Editor

GUEST EDITORSHIP

will be from a wide cross-section of people in the club’s orbit – fellow cocoa growers, eminent people in their field, leaders with a point of view, club members with an interesting angle and the occasional celebrity member. To nominate or apply for a future Guest Editorship, drop us a line editor@hotelchocolat.co.uk

What does cocoa mean to…

Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuadorian Arriba beans feature in our Rabot 1745 rare and vintage collection.

Look for the blue packaging

Ecuador’s unique strain of Arriba cocoa is renowned for its superb quality, but in terms of quantity, the country represents only 4 or 5% of the world’s cocoa production.

But that wasn’t always the case, because a little over 100 years ago Ecuador was the world’s largest cocoa producer. So what happened?

Cocoa commercialisation first came to Ecuador towards the end of the 16th century with the Spanish colonists planting trees. By the 1800s, Ecuador was riding a cocoa boom, with an estimated 12 million trees by the 1820s.

And by the 1880s, Ecuador became the world’s largest producer with 30% of the global market.

The growing demand for chocolate pushed

cocoa prices higher, fuelling economic success.

However, as the 20th century got under way, cocoa supplies from Ghana began to flood the market and cocoa prices tumbled. To make matters worse, Ecuador’s tree stock was being decimated by disease – losing 60% of their trees by the 1930s.

Recently, there have been concerted efforts to revive the stock of native Arriba trees and cocoa production is bouncing back. And the future looks bright; after all, Ecuador is blessed with one of the most sought-after fine flavour beans and the country supplies approximately 50-60% of the world’s fine cocoa.

Arriba cocoa features regularly in the Club, but if you can’t wait for your next taste, you can find it in the new Rabot 1745 range.

Prize Draw CHOCOLATE

scorers’

Let us have your scores online or by post and you’ll automatically be entered into this Prize Draw every month to win Hotel Chocolat goodies!

Classic Selection Our prize draw winner is Mrs J Brown from Reading who wins a White & Light Sleekster. Next month’s prize is a Sleekster Praline Selection.

Dark Selection Our prize draw winner is Mrs J Heal from Southampton who wins a Serious Dark Fix Sleekster. Next month’s prize is a Sleekster Dark Selection.

Elements

Selection

Our prize draw winner is Ms J Armitage from Lancaster who wins a Rocky Road Slab.

Next month’s prize is a Cookie Choc Chip slab.

Purist

Selection

Our prize draw winner is Mr J Wilson from Whitby who wins three different 70g bars from the Rabot 1745 rare and vintage range. Next month’s prize will be another three Rabot 1745 70g bars.

All Milk

Selection

Our prize draw winner is Miss D Anderson from Otley who wins a Milk Chocolate Canapés selection. Next month prize is a Sleekster Milk Selection.

Last Call...

Fortified selection The renowned Fortified Selection is more popular than ever – featuring 28 exclusive recipes made with an exciting array of alcohols and liqueurs, plus a set of four fascinating Provenance Cards to give you the lowdown on this season’s chosen alcohols.

The next delicious instalment is now being despatched and it’s not one to miss – including a dram of Glenmorangie Single Malt, premium French vodka in an elegant Grey Goose Martini, warming glugs of Courvoisier VS Cognac and Damson Gin, uplifting Mercier Champagne Truffles and more.

Each recipe is brimming with its full quota of alcohol and is utterly uncompromising in its approach - available to members for just £16.00 (plus £3.95 P&P).

Make sure yours is reserved via Manage My Membership at www.chocs.co.uk/MMM or call 08444 933 933.

SCORING IS EASY & FUN – 4

do it online at www.chocs.co.uk or pop your scorecard in your payment envelope!

Don’t forget your...

Discover our classroom classics re-imagined and recreated with style. You’ll find that those delicious memories taste even better this time round! Featuring interpretations of British classics like soft caramel Roll-Over and the delicate wafer fingers of Snip-Snap, as well as the classic crunch of Cinder Toffee, melt-away Crumbly Fudge and Cornflake Tray Tablet.

Reserve your Tuck Box now and rekindle all of those delicious childhood memories for just £18.50 (plus £3.95 P&P) at www.chocs.co.uk/Tuck or call 08444 933 933.

ALL MILK

Our gold All MIlk packaging design, reminiscent of yellow cocoa pods

The Chocolate Tasting Club was founded in 1998 with the Classic Selection – a balance of milk, dark and white chocolates that appealed to a broad range of members. However, as the years have passed, we have added great depth of choice to our range, including our most recent introduction, the All Milk Selection.

W

e’ve always known that a majority of Club members prefer milk chocolate, which is precisely why the Classic Selection is our most popular.

However, following a members’ survey in autumn 2011, it became clear that many Classic members would love a box devoted to milk chocolate. Just as it became clear back in the earlier days of the Club that there were quite a few members who would love an all dark selection. That culminated in the launch of the Dark Selection in the spring of 2006 and this time round, we listened to members again and launched the All Milk Selection in February 2012.

Each All Milk Selection is based on the corresponding Classic Selection, with one exception – we concentrate on those recipes that work best in mellow, milk chocolate by featuring three of each recipe rather than the usual two each as in the Classic Selection.

And, it wasn’t just the idea of the All Milk Selection that came from our members’

6

survey, for the first time ever the box colour was also decided by the survey results, albeit with a slight proviso… The first choice colour, with just under 50% of the vote, was lilac-blue came in first with just under 50% of the vote.

However, it quickly dawned on us that it was uncomfortably like another very well known colour in the chocolate world…! So we decided to look at the second choice colour, gold, which was a very close runner-up with 42% of the vote.

Given that this was a rich, strong colour and also reminiscent of the golden yellow of cocoa pods, we decided to go with it.

Today the All Milk Selection is our fourth most popular selection.

VITAL STATISTICS Launch date: February 2012 Share of membership: 7.5% Total number of boxes shipped: 85,254

Raspberry Crème Fraîche Tart Try this super dessert, created by our chocolatiers and inspired by a recipe for one of their favourite chocolates!

Just one of the featured recipe cards included in the Summer Desserts collection. Order yours via www.chocs.co.uk/SUMMER or call 08444 933 933.

Difficulty: *** Time: 30 minutes preparation, plus chilling; 70 minutes cooking Serves: 8

Ingredients (US = italics) Chocolate Pastry:

270g / 9½oz / scant 2¼ cups plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting 4 tbsp Hotel Chocolat Cocoa Powder 125g / 4½oz / 1¼ sticks unsalted butter 2 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar 1 egg, lightly beaten A little milk, if needed Raspberry Crème Fraîche Filling:

60g / 2oz / 4 tbsp caster (superfine) sugar 1 large egg 1 tsp vanilla extract 175g / 6oz / ¾ cup crème fraîche, plus extra to serve 4 Hotel Chocolat Florentine Isabelles, roughly chopped 225g / 8oz / scant 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, plus extra, to serve Icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

5. Remove the paper and beans 1. To make the chocolate and brush the pastry with the pastry, place the flour, cocoa remaining beaten egg. Return powder, butter, sugar and half to the oven for a further 5 of the beaten egg in a food minutes until cooked and processor and pulse briefly golden. Remove the pastry to combine. If necessary, add case from the oven and turn a little milk to help bring the the temperature down to mixture together to a dough.

160°C / 315°F / Gas 3.

2. Turn the dough out onto a 6. To make the filling, beat half lightly floured work surface of the sugar with the egg and and roll out until large enough vanilla extract. Stir in the to line a 26cm / 10in tart tin crème fraîche and Florentines, (pan). Line the tin with the then fold in the raspberries pastry, pressing it into the until combined. Pour the base and up the sides, then mixture into the pastry case trim the edge. Refrigerate for and spread it out until even, 1 hour. taking care not to break up 3. Preheat the oven to 180°C / the raspberries.

350°F / Gas 4.

7. Sprinkle the remaining sugar 4. Line the pastry case (tart over the top of the tart and shell) with greaseproof bake for about 45 minutes (waxed) paper and weigh until set and slightly golden. down with baking beans Leave to cool, then remove or uncooked rice. Bake the the tart from the tin. Dust pastry blind for 15–20 minutes with icing sugar and serve until almost cooked. with a spoonful of crème fraîche and extra raspberries.

cover story – continued

Planting

new seeds

“

In GHANA

The support scheme has generated real optimism among the participants...

The successful dozen – seven men and five women, most of whom will farm family land – have already participated in their first cocoa workshops at the Seed Production Unit of the Ghana Cocoa Board at Juaso. They have also been supplied with 4kg of seed maize, two machetes and a pair of stout wellies to help sustain them until the planting of cocoa seedlings and plantain suckers can begin in the rainy season.

All the participants are keen to start. Forced to drop out of education because of high school fees, Mercy Oppong, 22, had struggled to feed her two children through minor trading. She believes her own cocoa farm is the solution.

“I had managed to save a little money, just enough to pay for labour for the clearing of the land,” she says. “With the support that I am going to get under this programme, I do not have to wait another year to save the money for the seedlings and other inputs – I can start my farm straight away. This is a great relief.”

What makes such stories especially rewarding is that the Young Farmers Support Scheme, part of our Engaged Ethics programme, only came about because we had boots on the ground in Ghana. Club director Terry Waters explains: “On our regular trip

”

to Ghana last year, we met a group of cocoa farmers at a local radio station. Purely by chance, we learned of their grave concern that younger people were turning away from cocoa farming because of heavy initial costs.”

The £200 start-up cost of cocoa represented twice the annual income of most farmers.

Factor in that a new crop would only provide an income three years after it was planted, and it was little surprise that few new farmers could grow cocoa, even though the market for it is more reliable than for other crops.

So, the support scheme has generated real optimism among the participants. Brothers Karim and Iliasu Issaka had migrated with their parents from drought in north Ghana to work as labourers in the cocoa plantations.

Hard work had seen them save enough money to purchase some land but it is only thanks to the scheme that they now plan to become farm owners themselves.

As 25-year-old Akuoko Baah Donkor explains: “Finding the financial resources to pay for hands to help clear a big enough portion of land and purchase enough seedlings to make cocoa economically viable is a major headache, so this is the answer to the needs of young people like me who want to make it in cocoa farming. It couldn’t have come at a better time.”

Left – The 12 selectees for the Young Farmers’ Support Scheme are put through their paces with training and instruction on cocoa farming from their new mentors. The successful participants are: Alex Amoah, Esther Amoakoah, Selina Out, Frederick Awuku, Daniel Somuah, Mercy Oppong, Gifty Osei Atobrah, Baah Akuoko Donkor, Iliasu Issaka, Karim Issaka, Joyce Oti Mensah and Kwame Oti Mensah.

9

scores

Classic Selection – D160 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Average 8.4

1

After Dinner Armagnac

Kiri Kalenko

29%

2

Lemon Berry Truffle

Rhona Macfadyen

26%

8.5

3

Vanilla Pannacotta

Victoria Elliot

25%

8.4

4

Macho Gianduja

Olivier Nicod

23%

8.4

5

Highland Park Whisky

Olivier Nicod

22%

8.1

After Dinner Armagnac

DARK Selection – K93 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10

Average 8.6

1

Rum Bombe

Rhona Macfadyen

32%

2

Dark Gianduja

Olivier Nicod

29%

8.5

3

After Dinner Armagnac

Kiri Kalenko

27%

8.6

4

Caramel Pecan Praline

Victoria Elliot

22%

8.3

5

66% Dark Batons

The Tasting Club

20%

8.3

10/10

Average

Rum Bombe

Elements Selection – S71 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

1

66% Dark Batons

The Tasting Club

30%

8.0

2

Macho Gianduja

Olivier Nicod

29%

8.6

3

Feuilletine Crisp

Kiri Kalenko

27%

8.5

4

41% Milk Chocolate

The Tasting Club

24%

8.6

5

Berry Mousse

Rhona Macfadyen

21%

8.0

10/10

Average 9.0

66% Dark Batons

purist Selection – p25 No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

1

100% Buena Vista Lemonettes

The Tasting Club

42%

2

70% Dark Chocolate, Madagascar

The Tasting Club

42%

8.9

3

Super Booster Buche

Kiri Kalenko

14%

8.4

4

Venezuelan Pecan Praline

Kiri Kalenko

14%

8.7

5

66% Sambirano Truffle

Olivier Nicod

14%

8.4

10/10

Average

100% Buena Vista Lemonettes

ALL MILK Selection – M15 No. Chocolate Name

10

Chocolatier

1

Highland Park Whisky

Olivier Nicod

25%

7.9

2

Caramel Pecan Praline

Victoria Elliot

23%

8.3

3

Praline Round

Kiri Kalenko

23%

8.7

4

Feuilletine Crisp

Kiri Kalenko

23%

8.4

5

Lemon & Bergamot

Olivier Nicod

20%

8.0

Highland Park Whisky

feedback

Your Tasting Comments!

Caramel Pecan Praline – Classic This is like eating maple syrup and pancakes with pecans, except it’s encased in a chocolate.

Charlotte Purves, online

Bouquet

New White Tasting Baton – Classic A good ‘snap’ and the initial flavour wasn’t bad – but it developed a slightly unpleasant aftertaste...

Carol Emmett, Port Talbot

Brickbat

Lemon Berry Truffle – Classic I hate white choc with a passion but this was a very pleasant surprise.

All I got was lemon. Blissful lemon.

Susan Greenwood, Colchester

Bouquet

Rum Bombe – Dark Very good – booze and chocolate, what’s not to like!

Liz McKenzie, Newquay

Bouquet

Beer Truffle – Dark Beer and chocolate? Not such a good idea I think.

Beryl Swain, Southampton

Brickbat

Zesty Praline Bite – Elements We loved the crunch!

Mahya Mirfattahi, Derby

Bouquet

IN THE POSTBAG… Dear Editor I don’t know whether my father was one of your original customers in September 1998.

It was only after my mother died, 8 years ago, that I realised he was also a member of the club.

Unfortunately, Dad died 3 years ago, but the chocolates remain a link with him. Thank you for the Tasting Club, and the link with my parents.

My husband discovered you in 2005, and has regularly purchased the Classic Selection for me, as well as the Christmas Selection each year. I have scored every box, as far as I can remember, and it was when Dad asked us to post his score for him that we realised he also enjoyed your chocolates.

P.S. Dad’s name is Richard Mundy, and he lived in Alton, Hampshire.

Regards, Tricia Anderson

Don’t forget – if we publish your letter you’ll receive your next tasting box FREE! Write to editor@hotelchocolat.co.uk or The Chocolate Tasting Club, Mint House, Royston, SG8 5HL

11

Putting on the glitz!

Excellence is our annual collection that brings together the very best of the best from the last year of tasting, covering a whole array of categories and genres. In short, it’s the glitziest, tastiest chocolate event of the year and it’s certainly not one to miss!

But how do we go about choosing the winners for this exclusive collection? Well, the main ‘work’ is done by you, our Tasting Club members as you taste and rate the chocolates in your monthly boxes.

Using your scores and comments, we identify the highest performing chocolates of the year and compile a shortlist of contenders.

Next, our tasting team gets together to reconsider each contender through a series of ‘frank discussions’… after which, the chocolate superstars for each of our selections emerge. This year there are four selections available – Classic, Dark, All Milk and Elements, so there’s a box full of winners to suit everyone.

The question is, did your favourites make it into the final box? There’s only one way to find out… don’t miss the chocolate event of the season!

12

Create a Chocolate

goes baocokl to sch

Question: what links a village school in Devon to a community medical centre in southern Ghana?

Answer: Chocolate Volcano and Summer in Paradise.

Ten-year-old Create a Chocolate winner Francesca Piper (back right) and other budding chocolatiers

T

hese were just two ideas for chocolates dreamed up by the 4- to 11-year-olds of Plymtree Church of England Primary School in April after a fellow pupil’s success in our Create A Chocolate competition. Tenyear-old Francesca Piper and her mum Zoe both entered winning designs in last year’s event: Fran created a Gooey Guava – white chocolate with a guava-truffle centre – while Zoe produced a salted caramel she named Cara-sel. Their prize: 5kg in chocolate each and their designs realised by our master chocolatiers.

Zoe says: “When I received the newsletter which said we’d won I ran up the road of the village and burst into my daughter’s classroom to tell her. All the children had known about it from the beginning and were really excited we had won so much chocolate.”

With chocs galore for prizes, Zoe and Fran decided to restage the competition at school to support our plan to build a community medical centre in Osuben in Southern Ghana.

Pupils and their parents got to live out their Willy Wonka fantasies for the price of a 50p donation. “Sometimes you really struggle to get everybody involved at school but everyone was so on board with this. All the children had so much fun coming up with drawings,” Zoe says.

While impressed by the ghoulish schoolboy who produced an Edible Eyeball, judges Zoe and Fran gave the nod to other sweet dreams: a strawberry and meringue Summer in Paradise; Delicious Dice made of chocolate, and one parent’s apricot and Amaretto-filled Chocaretto.

Having added £22.50 to our Ghanaian fund, the 45 entries are now in the hands of our chocolatiers; “Hotel Chocolat had been so generous, we wanted to say thank you and give something back,” Zoe explains.

Cara-sel and Gooey Guava have already gone into our tasting boxes. And another one will be on its way – our chocolatiers are working on creating the Chocolate Volcano as we speak!

The Chocolate Volcano – inside

The Chocolate Volcano – outside 13

news & results

Thank you, FROm Ghana

Results

It’s so inspiring how many members of the Chocolate Tasting Club have come forward to help fund the building of a much-needed cocoa farmers’ community medical centre in Osuben in Ghana.

Our elite Six of the Best Collection is now in its third exciting year and this time round it was personal! All six chocolates were personally chosen

by Club Founder, Angus Thirlwell.

These were his handpicked recipes of the moment, the chocolates he most wanted you to try – but what did you think of them?

At £25,000, we’re just over halfway to the target, and we’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who has contributed so far – with a special note of thanks to Mrs F Gosnell and Miss B Hayes, who both donated £500. And to Ryan Kelly who donated £1,250 on behalf of the Whitemore Trust, a charity which supports communities in West Africa.

And we’d also like to say thank you to the following people, who all donated £100 and more: Mr Bangor-Jones

Miss Lindsay

Mrs Boffey

Mrs McConachie

Mrs P Brown

Mrs K Partington

Mrs M Galpin

Mrs Thom

Miss Heeley

Mrs Thomas

Mrs S Hunt

Ms Thomas & Mr Cocks

Mr & Mrs Kirby

Mrs M Thomas

Mr H Knipe

Mr M York

SIX OF THE BEST?

No. Chocolate Name

Chocolatier

10/10 Average

1

Raspberry Smoothie

R Macfadyen

39%

8.8

2

Champagne Truffle

O Nicod

37%

8.7

3

Whisky Truffle

T Loke

32%

8.2

4

Velvet Bites

K Pritchard

30%

8.6

5

Soft Salted Caramel

F Plimmer

25%

8.3

6

Gianduja Buches

K Kalenko

25%

8.1

Mr G Levack

If you’d like to contribute to the appeal to fund the Osuben Medical Centre, please send a cheque for whatever amount you can give, made payable to: The Cocoa Farmers’ Fund, and send to: CTC Ghana Appeal, FREEPOST, ANG10659, Royston, SG8 5YD. 14

1st Raspberry Smoothie

2nd Champagne Truffle

3rd Whisky Truffle

update

Lucky chefs go back to school A team of London chefs are on a special mission to Saint Lucia to learn the secrets of our Boucan restaurant from the masters.

It’s a kitchen confidential our members are among the first to know: Hotel Chocolat is to launch a brand new UK restaurant later this year, with an Anglo-Saint-Lucian atmosphere and cocoa-rich menu inspired by our Boucan restaurant in Saint Lucia.

We’ve picked a select group of London chefs to bring the kitchen to life, but before we do, we’re sending them to Saint Lucia in July for training. In between soaking up the sun and breathing in the local culture, they’ll get inkitchen training from our top Boucan chefs on Saint Lucian cuisine and how cocoa nibs

• Pioneers of

‘This is a fish...’ - Our Boucan chefs get ready to teach their new protégés from London

can enhance their dishes.

Once training’s over they won’t be the first batch of magical Anglo-Saint-Lucian chefs out of our oven – all of our Boucan chefs were themselves trained by the virtuoso John Bentham, who’s now taken charge of our UK launch. Watch this space!

Chocolate •

Frank and Forrest Mars

Franklin Mars began a career that was eventually to lead to the founding of Mars Inc in 1911, with a factory that made butter cream candy in Tacoma, Washington.

Making confectionery was second nature to Frank who, having suffered from polio as a child could not walk and was entertained by his mother by making dipped chocolates.

T

he company grew and in 1923 introduced the Milky Way, prompting sales to rocket. By 1929 Mars Inc relocated to much larger premises in Chicago and Frank’s son Forrest joined the company. Unfortunately, father and son did not work well together, so Forrest moved to the UK in 1932 to found Mars Ltd, armed with a recipe for Milky Way, which was later adapted for British tastes and became known as the Mars Bar. His founding objective then remains the same for Mars Inc today, to build a company with “a mutuality of benefits for all stakeholders.” After Frank’s death in 1934, Forrest took over the family business and eventually merged the two companies. Perhaps his crowning achievement was the invention of M&M’s in 1940 – now a billion dollar global brand. Forrest died aged 95 leaving a $4 billion fortune and Mars Inc to his three children.

15

c at Lu * % t 25 in r , Sa ve l o te ve Ho Sa can u

Bo

ia

AN EXCLUSIVE OFFER FOR TASTING CLUB MEMBERS! 1st – 8th September 2013 and 29th September – 6th October 2013 The two Chocolate Tasting Club Weeks reserved for members at our Boucan Hotel in May were such a success we're having two more.

Come and enjoy a blend of luxury, primal beauty and wellbeing at our stunning Rabot Estate plantation in Saint Lucia.

Stay with us for seven nights in a beautiful lodge for two, and enjoy an amazing discount of more than 25% .

Our Chocolate Tasting Club Weeks are packed with fine dining and fabulous Rabot Estate experiences – some created just for members – including: • A VIP airport transfer to the hotel and fresh cacao cocktail on arrival.

• A full breakfast, two-course lunch and three-course à la carte dinner.

• Two Cocoa Juvenate spa treatments.

• $100-a-day beverage credit per couple.

• Harvesting a cocoa pod, grafting, planting (and naming) your own cocoa tree and learning the art of making chocolate from the experts in the magical Tree to Bar experience.

• A day on the hotel’s launch to the beach and nature reserve at Pigeon Island.

• E xperience cooking cacao cuisine with one of our chefs.

• An exclusive Caribbean rum and chocolate pairing session.

• An Island Growers tour with local cocoa farmers.

Our gorgeous Lodges and Luxes come with fabulous four-poster beds and open-sky rainforest showers. When you’re not exploring the estate or enjoying the fabulous Boucan restaurant, relax in the infinity pool at Club Boucan, with its spectacular view of the twin Piton Mountains.

Book now for an experience you’ll always treasure, for a members-only offer of £3,000 for a Lodge and £3,700 for a Luxe.

Book now while places are available for an experience you’ll always treasure.

Call (UK) 0844 544 1272 (USA) 800-757-7132.

Email: reservations@thehotelchocolat.com.

Offer doesn't include flights. *Full T's & C's at hotelchocolat.com/boucan.