How we are already over halfway through the year absolutely baffles me. Every Friday, Annabel walks into the Choco Cabin (our staff room) and ticks another week off the team calendar. Every Monday she reminds me exactly how many weeks we have left... Until the C word.
Which feels slightly ridiculous to even mention while we're experiencing one of the hottest July’s on record.
But for us, Christmas starts almost as soon as spring finishes.
Christmas has officially begun... sorry! 🎄
You might be wondering what on earth we've been up to behind the scenes. Catherine Santas are already rolling off the production line. Thousands upon thousands of Selection Box chocolates are being made (actually 450,000 chocolates this summer already). Christmas O'bars are underway.
And, last but certainly not least...
Our brand new Advent Calendar.
We've just signed off the new artwork, the completely redesigned internal tray and some recipe improvements for what I can genuinely say is an entirely levelled-up advent calendar 💪 One of the biggest bits of feedback from last year, understandably, was keeping the chocolates to stay perfectly in place (sooo valid). It has taken months of testing and various samples.
The new insert has been thoroughly tested and I can pinky promise those chocolates aren't going anywhere.
We've:
- introduced a much sturdier internal frame
- evenly distributed all six chocolate flavours
- colour coded the foil wrappers to make opening each day even more fun, clear (and a little sparklier!)
If you bought one of our very first Advent Calendars last year, firstly... thank you for being one of our advent guinea pigs (am I allowed to say that, idk?)
As a little thank you for helping us learn last year, if you email our customer service team before the end of September and let us know you purchased last year's advent calendar with your order email/order number, I'll happily send you a little discount code to try this year's new and improved version.
Enough Christmas. Sorry I mentioned it.
One thing I've really appreciated this July is having a few peaceful weekends.
Whenever I used to get free time, I almost always ended up back in the kitchen. Cooking has always been my happy place. It's my love language - there's something really special about cooking someone a meal.
Fun fact...
Three months before Catherine's Originals was founded, I was viewing commercial properties in central Brighton with my Dad because I was convinced I was going to open a vegan kitchen; instead, Catherine's Originals happened.
Who knows... Maybe one day there'll be a Catherine's Originals café. Never say never.
Now…The kettle.
Right. I appreciate this next story is about... A kettle. But honestly, I cannot contain my excitement. Last Christmas I was wandering around Fortnum & Mason (one of my favourite Christmas traditions because it's such an inspiring place, even if the prices aren't). I walked upstairs and there she was. A beautiful green kettle. She stared directly into my soul. I absolutely fell in love. I spent about twenty minutes trying to justify how many cups of tea I'd have to drink for it to make financial sense. It didn't. Then, completely out of the blue, Dad surprised me with it for Christmas. She's called Wolly.
Fast forward to June. My Auntie Linda came over for a cup of tea. Within minutes she'd fallen in love with the kettle too.
Without really thinking, I heard myself say: "I'll get you one for your birthday." Did I actually just say that. Oops. So Jamie, my brother Oli and I all chipped in and bought her one.
Her kettle is called Polly. Together they are Polly and Wolly. And best believe we have an official tea afternoon booked in, where I will genuinely be taking my Wolly with me.
Call us weird. We don't care.
The best bit? Completely by coincidence, Auntie Linda had just had her kitchen renovated. Was I given the design brief? No. Does Polly somehow perfectly match her new black, white and red kitchen? Absolutely. Sorry. That was a very long story about a kettle.
Coconut Coast... WOW 🥥
We launched Coconut Coast on the 1st July.
Did it do exactly what we thought it might? Yes. Did it completely exceed expectations? Over 400 Coconut Coast O'bars sold in the first two weeks alone. Annabel has already had to juggle production around just to make more. Could this become our best-selling O'bar ever?
Wimbledon looked pretty good on us 🎾
Our Selection Box made it to Wimbledon. Doesn't she look perfect there? Admittedly, Annabel did have to pack them in a cool bag. If only chocolate didn't melt in the sunshine...If only
Meet Bella 🐶 Or as she's better known... Potato.
Bella came to spend a few days with the team while I was on dog sitting duty! It also resulted in what was probably the most controversial Instagram post I've ever shared. Which genuinely baffled me.
Clearly not speechless though, as I now have a lot to say, when sometimes, believe it or not.. I do hold back. Apparently looking after a puppy for a week means I'm no longer vegan and Catherine's Originals isn't a vegan company. Apparently.
To clear a few things up:
- Bella is not my dog
- Bella was not a business expense.
- I do not think having a puppy makes you a bad person, especially without context
I very rarely get strongly opinionated online. But I'd be lying if I said some of the comments didn't rattle me. I'm rattled.
I've been vegan since I was 12 years old. I'm now 24. One thing I've learnt in this time, is vegans can, sometimes, unfortunately get a really bad rep. A handful of people (certainly not all) can sometimes be incredibly quick to judge.
Social media seems to encourage people to jump to conclusions before asking questions. I believe if millions of people simply made 1% better choices daily, we'd make a far bigger difference than expecting a tiny number of people to be 100% perfect all the time.
I've experienced these external pressures myself, on multiple occasions. Here are a few examples.
Years ago someone told me I couldn't possibly be vegan because I continue to go on holidays.
More recently, I stopped to watch some vegan activists in Trafalgar Square. I was curious to hear what all the shouting was about. I ended up chatting to one of the ladies there, who very quickly became quite confrontational before even asking me anything about myself. She had no idea she'd just spent several minutes passive-aggressively lecturing someone who runs a vegan chocolate company, someone whos vegan.
Her colleagues actually ended up chasing me down the street and apologised on her behalf. That moment really stuck with me.
Every single decision we make at Catherine's Originals starts with kindness. Kindness to animals. Kindness to people. Kindness to the planet. Our chocolate is entirely vegan. Our company is entirely vegan.
Looking after a puppy, or even owning a dog one day, doesn't automatically change that or make any of the above untrue, especially without any background context.
We've introduced thousands of people to vegan chocolate simply by making really delicious chocolate. No lectures. No judgement. Just really good products that anyone can eat. That’s the kinda impact I want to have.
I guess I'm typing this partly to vent, partly to give a bit of context for those who were curious about Bella, and partly to remind myself that if I decide I want a puppy one day... then I'm going to get myself a god damn puppy.
The Selection Box is BACK ❤️
Finally... The big one. As you know, we removed our OG Selection Box for a few months so our Summer Selection Box could have its own moment. It was an experiment. A risky one. And you've made yourselves incredibly clear.
The original Selection Box is the heartbeat of Catherine's Originals.
You don't want us switching it off. You want it available all year round. The Catherine's Originals Vegan & Gluten Free Selection Box is back.
And it's here to stay. Thank you for making that one very easy for us.
If you've been patiently waiting... Go stock up on your favourites, get a box from our first batch back.
Have a browse through the O'bar Shop if you haven't already, to see what new O’bar flavours we have too!
Stay Sweet, Stay Kind,
Catherine 🤎