Food & Drink Awards 2018

www.lux-review.com Page 95 LUX 2018 Food & Drink Awards Although the firm remains a small business, Phillip now has brand ambassadors in Canada as well as the UK, as word of his innovative alternative to other hot chocolate products spread globally. He explores how his Canadian colleagues support him and share his products with an even wider range of drinkers. “Alongside supplying to the UK market, my products are now provided internationally. Pip’s Real Hot Chocolate Canada came about from two sisters who came to Wales on holiday in 2017 and found my hot chocolate coins in a gift shop in Cardiff. They contacted me to ask if I was able to send to Toronto, and I mentioned it would be far easier if I had a distributor. After several months the contracts were signed, and I had two massive fans ready to start taking a new Hot Chocolate experience to the residents of Canada.” Looking to the future, Phillip has many exciting plans on the horizon, including the introduction of a new product whose name has a very special origin. “As a result of the LUXlife Food & Drink Award, I have developed a new drinking chocolate – LUX. Having a minimum 62% cocoa content made with Madagascan cocoa, Sri Lankan coconut palm sugar, and Japanese kuzu root starch (all organic), with a touch of cocoa butter for smoothness, this is entirely ground from its elements in my workshop in Wales and brings a delicious and complex taste to your drink. Taste tests have gone so well that I will now discontinue my regular Belgian chocolate bars and replace them with this LUX chocolate in bar form, as well as introducing it as my top shelf drinking chocolate. So many big things have already happened this year that I think that this is the perfect step to take.” “Ultimately, although I have achieved great success over the years, the basic premise behind what I do, and the driving mission statement, has remained the same: to bring hot chocolate to the same level as craft beer, artisan coffee, and speciality tea. Hot chocolate should be, by definition, a luxury product. Pip’s Real Hot Chocolate Co is at the forefront of the Hot Chocolate Revolution, and this will remain its core focus moving forward.” Company: Pip's Real Hot Chocolate Co Contact: Phillip Easton Address: Pip's Chocolate Boutique Unit 29, The Market, Pontypool, NP4 6JW Phone: 07932 71 0126 Web Address: pipsformilk.co.uk