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“Two guys, making chocolate, with love and craft, in Essex”
manage on their own. “Sometimes, around Easter time, we would set up at maybe 5am, and we could be sold out by 10am. We would have people desperate, because they had that one opportunity, only one day where they could buy the chocolates.” This trend for consumers eschewing supermarkets in favour of visiting multiple individual food specialists is becoming more and more apparent around our region. “In Saffron Walden now we’ve got a fishmonger, which does traditional filleting in front of the customer, and an excellent bakery – and we’ve always had a couple of butcher’s that have done well there, but I think, you can see the pattern – it’s almost going round in a cycle,” Greg says. “But there’s a way to go – in England, there isn’t the training and the background, so we don’t have the number of independent chocolatiers creating items. Whereas in France, in a little town the size of Saffron Walden, you might have two chocolatiers, two grocer’s, two butcher’s – and there’s a more competitive element to it.” The popularity of the brothers’ creations led them to consider opening a bricks-and-mortar store to expand and diversify their offering. “People being able to choose chocolates for a chocolate box is one of the most popular products that we offer, but it was too difficult to do on a market, in the open air. So – we thought, let’s have a look for a store,” Greg says. It took the brothers a long time to find the
first. “We both gave up our jobs, we created a plan, we invested our own money and completely changed our lifestyle. We wanted to develop a brand and a business,” Greg says. They started trading as Smith’s: L’Art Du Chocolate, and rented kitchens just outside of Bishop’s Stortford in a big community centre. “We traded on our local market in Saffron Walden and in Bishop’s Stortford – sometimes in Bury St Edmunds on seasonal occasions, and a farmers’ market in north London near Palmers Green. Working on the markets really gave us an opportunity to develop products, to gain lots of customer feedback, to understand what people liked. My brother had made chocolates in Paris, but there are a lot of cultural differences in people’s tastes: there are more citrus flavours in Paris – chocolate-coated lemon and grapefruit is a bit more niche here, whereas that might be more of a regular item over there.” For three days a week, the brothers sold their chocolates at markets around the area, and spent the rest of their time in kitchens, dividing and conquering according to their skill sets. They quickly noticed how the Saffron Walden community took their chocolates to heart – and not just because of the exceptional quality of their creations. “I think it’s because we had grown up in this town: we have a big respect for our local community, and tried to be very responsive to people’s requests.” As demand grew, the stall became difficult for the two brothers to
“Chris and I both enjoy playing golf, so we play at Saffron Walden Golf Club. He’s a lot better than me. Especially when he can drive an extra 150 yards beyond me, I feel like an old man. Just because I’m four years older than him… My son is only six, but loves golf, too, so he goes to a kid’s club every Saturday and Sunday morning. We also have a CrossFit gym in Saffron Walden: the kids love to come along there while the adults are doing a class. Sometimes we go to the Clip ’n’ Climb – but when the weather’s nicer, there are so many nice places to enjoy outside, around the area: Wimpole Hall Farm, Audley End House, going bike riding together…” EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
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