I hope all of you wonderful Choco Lovers enjoyed your Easter Sunday. Whether that consisted of hosting your loved ones for a delicious Sunday roast, a crisp stroll in the spring sunshine, the chaos of your kiddos running around collecting as much chocolate as they physically could, or simply switching off with a bubble bath and a good film… whatever it looked like, I truly hope it was accompanied by the best vegan chocolate.
Chocolate eggs with gooey centres, chocolate bars perfect for snapping and sharing, or those eggs that somehow always get demolished in one sitting.
Growing up, my mum made a big, I mean BIG, deal out of every occasion. It was great. Easter was especially chaotic, as fighting over the “best” egg hidden in the garden was always fun and games… or at least that’s how I choose to remember it.
The Easter I remember most was when my eldest brother took over hiding the eggs from the Easter Bunny. He was about 16, so I would have been around 10. In true William style, he hid my egg in the most exciting place possible… the roof of our house.
Meaning I didn’t actually spot it.
After hours of aimlessly walking around the garden, I needed a clue. Once I finally spotted it, I was told I’d be getting no assistance retrieving it. The potential of younger me falling off the roof (and not just cracking the egg) was… high. Mum having a slight panic about the thought of that? Also high.
I can confirm that after that Easter, Will was no longer responsible for assisting the Easter Bunny.
Jamie and I spent our Easter weekend just catching up as boyfriend and girlfriend, not business partners. Pottering around the garden, giving it some much-needed TLC, cooking up some good scran, and consciously steering conversations away from work (which, as you can imagine, is not always easy for us).
It was especially needed this weekend, as there’s been so much change within Catherine’s Originals over the past four weeks. New team members, new office space, new homes for everything, new procedures, new paperwork, training docs… the list goes on.
And when that much change happens, even when it’s all positive and for the greater good, it can feel overwhelming. Jamie and I hadn’t really stopped to reflect on it. We were just riding the wave, which inevitably led to a few flare-ups between us. So this weekend felt even more important.
One of our biggest changes is Annabel, our new Factory and Operations Manager. She’s now been with us for a month, although it feels like six (in the best way possible).
She just gelled straight away. No awkwardness, no uncertainty, it just felt right.
Our board told me this would happen when hiring for a senior role. After interviewing multiple people and not quite knowing what we were looking for, they said, “You’ll just know.” And they were right (as usual).
I wasn’t actually on the first interview with Annabel. I was hovering in the background but naturally, I listened to every word. And the “just knowing” feeling happened.
It’s funny… we all buy eggs, eat eggs, I even sell Easter eggs, but most of us don’t even know where the tradition of hiding chocolate eggs even came from.
Quick Google moment…
Apparently, the tradition dates back to 17th-century Protestant Germany. It’s linked to Martin Luther, who organised egg hunts with real eggs hidden for women and children to find, symbolising the discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb.
The Easter Bunny (“Osterhase”) also comes from a German tradition, where children prepared nests for a mythical hare to lay coloured eggs.
Joseph Fry was the first person to turn it into chocolate and produced the world’s first hollow chocolate egg in 1873. Pretty cool IMO.
With Annabel joining, a new office space was needed… which meant operation: put up Shed number three. At this point, Jamie and I genuinely feel like we could build these without instructions.
At the start of the year, I made a promise to myself to prioritise more family time. Last year (especially the second half), it kind of disappeared.
Last weekend, Jamie and I popped up to London to stay with my cousin Fifi and her partner Tom. We had a home-cooked vegan chilli, crisps, hummus, more hummus… lots of giggles, and I played my first-ever game of padel. I know, late to the party.
I get the hype, though, it’s great fun. Admittedly, I’m not very good, and the whole “using the wall” thing scares me slightly… so I basically just treated it like tennis.
You know when you go to a restaurant so many times in a short space of time that they start recognising you? That’s us right now.
I cannot get enough of this noodle soup from a quirky, authentic Thai street food spot near us. I’ve tried recreating it at home, it’s just not the same.
You’d probably say it’s a bit ridiculous that Jamie and I have flown to Thailand three times in the past three years, predominantly just for the food… and now we just drive 25 minutes down the road. Honestly… I’m genuinely thinking of driving there right now, to finish this email with a big bowl of noodles in front of me.
We also have a new Warehouse Supervisor officially starting this week, Ellie. She originally joined us as a Christmas temp, and now she’s staying for good, which is very exciting. I’m sure a proper welcome on Instagram will follow soon.
And not only do we have new team members, sheds, and systems… but a new warehouse build has begun.
It genuinely feels like we’re slowly taking over the park and I’m not mad about it.
We had a visitor welcome us into our new office. I don’t mind the tiny money spiders… and Jamie doesn’t really mind spiders in general (he’s the type who can pick up those massive fluffy ones from the bath drain 🤢).
But recently… he met his match.
We both randomly looked at Jamie’s armpit at the same time (not a usual occurrence), and there it was, just chilling. Jamie went to pick it up… and the little sod bit him. Safe to say, neither of us were fans.
Now… onto Advent Calendars. Gasp. Advent Calendars in March, Catherine!
If you purchased one of our Advent Calendars last year, thank you. Truly.
And also… we know we didn’t get everything right.
Considering the chaos of Q4, I still see it as a win for our first-ever Advent Calendar but there is so much we are improving for this year.
Firstly, the collapsing issue in the post. I know.
We tried to create a plastic-free internal structure using card grids. Great idea in theory… terrible in reality. The design, structure, and assembly were all problematic.
This year, we are creating a sturdy, post-proof grid, no more chocolates sinking to the bottom. Promise
Secondly, my idea of using the same colour foil wrap for mystery chocolates.
Bad idea.
Many of you wrote in thinking you had the same flavour throughout and I completely understand why. When everything is wrapped the same, it’s confusing.
This year, we’ll have more variety and different colours per flavour, with a better internal structure.
Why am I speaking about this now? Because I would love to know what flavours you’d want to see in this years advent, so I can get cracking on R&D.
I can’t quite believe I’m talking about Advent in early April, but with how fast Q1 has gone, I’m getting ahead of the game to make this year’s calendar the best ever.
Because of last year’s Advent issues, we were left with some stock… which made us pause and think.
Throughout the year, we also get smaller amounts of waste, slightly broken chocolates, scratched finishes, overproduction, or products past their best-before but still perfectly delicious.
And historically… we’ve had to bin some of this. Which never feels good.
So, Wonky Bags were born.
These are bags of completely random chocolates from across our range. Not a polished Catherine’s Originals product but a way to ensure delicious chocolate doesn’t go to waste.
We did have some initial confusion with the product description, where some people expected a full selection box experience. To be clear, each bag will vary. They’re imperfect, a little random, but still very tasty.
The description has now been updated, and if you don’t mind a slightly wonky choc these are the treats you can buy for you!
Mission: Shift the Chocs is officially underway. Reducing waste in ingredients, time, energy, and production.
To spring, fresh starts, sunshine… and a well-stocked Easter chocolate stash.
Stay Sweet,
Catherine 🍫✨