Simon and Oliver are widely travelled and have spent a lot of time travelling around Europe to chocolate events and to meet manufacturers from different countries, but they had never visited the place where the cocoa beans are grown. That all changed in 2017 when they flew from Manchester to Accra. It turned out to be the trip of a lifetime "...the Ghana trip was everything we had hoped it would be and so much more, it was both fascinating and exhilarating" says Simon. Oliver was equally enthused "It was the most wonderful experience and often humbling too" .
''We wanted to see how cocoa was grown first hand and the farm workers wanted to know how we used their cocoa beans , so it was enlightening for ourselves and the locals - many of whom have never tasted chocolate - which came as a shock to Oliver and I" said Simon.
One of the many highlights included visiting Anhwiam Anglican Primary school where the chocolatiers' gave an informal talk to a hugely enthusiastic group of school children and their teachers. Simon and Oliver are looking to forward to more chocolate related adventures and they haven't ruled out a return trip to Ghana at some point in the future.
]]>It's back to the future for Simon Dunn who opens the Little Chocolate Factory Shop in High Lane, Cheshire - his old stomping ground. Simon and Anne used to have a unit at the same address back in 2004, but back then the unit was essentially for making wholesale chocolates. Roll the clock forward to 2014 and Simon is very excited about his latest venture "we wanted to to keep it simple and get back to just making chocolate gifts for retail and corporate customers, without the distraction of making food and drinks plus additional staff overheads and stress. Chocolate is what I'm passionate about and I'm loving having the time to really concentrate on what I'm best at and that's making chocolates", says Simon. Simon will be working at the unit six days a week on the run up to Christmas (Closed Sunday's). The shop will be well stocked with chocolate gifts.
]]>It's that time again - the busiest time of the year at Simon Dunn Chocolatier and this Easter is no different than any other in the last 30 years of trading, Simon and his staff have been working day and night to keep up with demand, creating Easter eggs.
However, over the last couple of years Simon has been creating giant size Easter eggs to order just like the one featured in our video; this one is destined for the children at Christies Hospital
]]>World-famous opera singer Russell Watson visits Simon Dunn Chocolatier in aid of Kirsty Howard Charity night.
Russell ‘The Voice’ Watson visited Simon Dunn Chocolatier in May for charity fund raiser Kirsty Howard.
Russell’s visit was commemorated in the sweetest of ways – Simon Dunn made a life-size chocolate sculpture of the world renowned opera star.
Simon crafted the sculpture out of 20 kilos of chocolate, and got a bit of last minute help from Russell too when he arrived at the charity bash, to raise funds for Francis House Hospice in Didsbury.
Russell laughed: "I think the first thing Simon realised when I walked in is that the mouth isn’t big enough. I’ve got a big mouth! But I think it’s very sweet. Literally.
"I tried a bit of my chocolate arm and it was lovely."
Russell was joined at the event by inspirational young Francis House fundraiser Kirsty Howard, the 15-year-old who continues to battle the odds after being born with her heart back to front.
And Kirsty’s cheeky assessment of the sculpture? She giggled: "I think it’s good, but he needs more hair."
Despite the choco-honour, Russell doesn’t eat too much of the stuff to protect his vocal cords – and audiences.
He explains: "I am a fan of chocolate but I can’t eat too much of it because it’s not good for the singing.
"It puts a coating on the vocal cords, so when you hit the top notes you’d end up spreading the first three rows with bits of Dairy Milk!"
Guests donated cash to the charity to have their photo taken with Russell and ‘choco-Russell’ on the night, before the sculpture was demolished at the end for everyone to take a piece of him home! The event was a huge success and raised .
Credit: Dianne Bourne, Manchester Evening News (MEN).
]]>Innovative chocolatier Simon Dunn has teamed up with retail giant M&S and local Stockport brewer Frederic Robsinson to create a chocolate flavoured beer.
Simon came up with the idea and approached Robinson's who thought it was a great opportunity. Robinson's head brewer and Simon collaborated to produce the recipe which is based on an ale dating back to 1899.
It's a first for Robinson's and Simon Dunn, but if sales of Cheshire Chocolate Porter continue to grow it might not be the last... M&S launched their speciality beer range nationally and sales have gone well.
]]>Chocolatier Simon Dunn recently created a life-size version of former Manchester United and England star David Beckham using 50 kilos of chocolate.
The idea came about when Simon, 47, decided he needed to do something special to mark his 25th year in business. With the help of his team of chocolatiers Simon spent three long months toiling over the sculpture at his Hazel Grove shop.
The AC Milan star was crafted out of 14 moulds and specialist sculpting tools.
"It's probably been the most challenging thing we've ever done. It is the 25th year of our business so we knew we had to do something special," said Simon.
Everyone loves chocolate and not surprisingly the sculpture proved to be a very popular window display - especially with the ladies.
Simon's son Oliver, 25, who worked at the Wilmslow, Glossop and Hazel Grove shops said: "It received a top reaction and the girls were especially mad for it. They all wanted to eat him. But it's a bit of fun really.
"It's been great fun and it put smiles on people's faces.
"We are United fans. We really like David. We phoned the FA about what we were doing and apparently Becks really loved the idea.
"We have a real passion for chocolate and we're always looking for challenging things to make.
"We started out with a model mannequin and then we commissioned a mould manufacturer who made 14 moulds for us. Then we got to work with sculpting tools to add the finer details of the design."
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