Hello, my Choco Lovers,
It’s that time again: a little behind-the-scenes catch-up. And to all the new choco lovers who found us over the summer, welcome! There’s quite a lot to catch you up on.
If you missed it on socials or in my August email, we’ve officially moved into warehouse number three! Still at Tokar Industrial Park, just slowly taking up more of it…
Somewhere between moving boxes and gaining another shed, I realised that Catherine’s Originals has been around for five years. Which feels crazy to type.
I was 18, going on 19, when I started. Now I’m 24. Twenty-four. That sounds like an actual adult.
I still feel like a kid most days, but I’m growing up alongside Catherine’s Originals. And this email has made me stop and think about how much we’ve both changed.
At 18, I was pitching the idea of taking on Cadbury to the CMO of Pret A Manger. Talking about these huge numbers we were going to hit when we hadn’t even worked out who would make our chocolates. Let alone imagined we’d end up building our own factory.
There’s something quite charming about that level of blind confidence. At least, that’s what people tell me. Quite a few wished me luck while quietly thinking (and typing in group chats), “There’s no way she’s actually going to do that”.
And, honestly, I can now see why they may have thought that.
Jamie’s uncle, Stuart, popped into the factory the other day. If you’ve been here since the Fiona the Foilatron days, you’ll remember him.
He said, “I bet you would never have started if you’d known what you do now.”
My gut response was, “No, I wouldn’t have.”
Which needs a little explaining, because I’m so glad I did. I can’t imagine wanting to do anything else. But if 18-year-old me had known what the next five years would involve, she might have hesitated a little longer before charging straight in.
Sometimes I miss that feeling of not knowing. The absolute, 120% certainty that whatever we tried would work because, well, we’d make it work, even if HR and health and safety were not even in the conversation.
These days, I know a bit more about what can go wrong. Usually because I’ve personally been involved in it going wrong. But I also know a bit more about how to fix it.
We’ve lived every single part of building this business. Every recipe development, packaging idea, every f*ck-up. Every tricky conversation, stock shortage and wonky stud wall. Learning Shopify from scratch. How to sell. Working out what we want Catherine’s Originals to be and to stand for. Raising money, understanding shares, appointing directors, reading contracts…
There’s quite a lot tucked inside the sentence, “I’m just going to make a vegan chocolate selection box”, which didn’t really cross my mind at the time.
My auntie would call it building up your toolbox. At the beginning, we probably had just a hammer and a lot of unskilled enthusiasm. Now there’s a screwdriver, an Allen key and a tape measure in there too. Each one is needed for a different situation, and we now have them tucked away nicely for when necessary.
I think that’s what I’m trying to hold on to as we grow: enough of that original “let’s give it a go” feeling to keep doing exciting things, with a few more tools in the box, to help us pull them off. And nowhere is that growth more obvious than at Tokar, which is where I would now call home.
In our first year, we rented a kitchen in Henfield, Sussex. In our second year, a kitchen in York. Then came Tokar Industrial Park and our first small but oh-so-mighty factory space.
The striped wall. The hot-pink changeover room. The wonky suspended ceiling I put up with my brother and Jamie, wearing barefoot running shoes, of course.
We had one shed: the original Choco Cabin (which acted as the team lunchroom, meeting room, mine and Jamie’s office and, occasionally, when needs really must, a bedroom).
By our second year at Tokar, things were getting real. We were working with people beyond family and friends, orders needed more space, and Jamie and I were getting a little tired of kitchen-table surfing.
Along came Unit F, our first dedicated choco pick-and-pack warehouse. More room for your orders, more room for lunch breaks, more room to breathe.
We grew by 600% from 2023 to 2024, followed by another 100% from 2024 to 2025. So, quite quickly, we needed more room. Again.
Which brings us to now.
We have Annabel, our full-time operations manager with her own desk in Choco Ops. Jamie and I have a desk each in Choco Shed number three. And we’ve taken on our third unit, D1, just for storage.
We have a dedicated warehouse supervisor. That still feels wild to me. Ellie has made organising the warehouse and getting your orders out feel seamless, and Annabel has just finished hiring our seasonal team. Yes, Annabel. Not me!
There are more people taking care of things I once tried to do myself, and I’m learning how to do that more; it’s hard, though. It’s really training the mind to think and grow the business in a different way now. Not just in the “I’ll do it myself because that’s quicker” way, but the delegating way.
Meanwhile, Scott, Lewis, Joe, Elliot, Sean and George, with Jackson soon joining, are busy in the kitchen getting your chocolate ready. (not intentionally testosterone-heavy!) I’ve got that little feeling in my toes that we’re heading into a very good season.
Apparently, we now measure growth in sheds and warehouses. One more for each of the next 10 years? I’m here for it.
From the baby-pink sofa where I’m typing this, I’ve just poked my head around the corner and counted about seven more units on the park. Who knows? By the time I’m 30, perhaps I’ll be emailing you from Catherine’s Originals Industrial Park, no longer called Tokar. A girl can dream.
People often ask where this is all going. What’s the plan?
Well, world chocolate domination, of course.
But when I picture it, I picture a place people enjoy coming to work. A community that knows us and feels part of what we’re making. An immersive shop where you can step into the world of Catherine’s Originals and experience it beyond a screen. Products that come without compromise, without changing from our core values.
I want us to be that chocolate name that comes to mind when someone asks, “What should I get them for their birthday?”
That means thinking about every detail: opening the box, choosing your first chocolate, finding your favourite. Making something playful that soon becomes a familiar, family comfort. Giving people that magical selection-box feeling, without anyone feeling they’re missing out.
And I hope you knowing me, us, is part of that warmth for you. Knowing where your chocolates are made, who makes them, and how an idea I had at 18 has found its way into your home. And your belly.
I’m still figuring plenty out. And I’d quite like to think that 18-year-old me would walk in, see all this and say, “Well, obviously. I told you we could do it.”
Why does reading that sentence back make me emotional? ^
Thank you for being here while we grow.
Keep your eyes peeled over the next month, my lovelies. There’s going to be some serious chocolate game being dropped, and I don’t think you’re ready for it.
Lots of love, Stay Sweet as always,
Catherine 💗
