When a business orders branded chocolate, there is usually a lot of attention given to the things people can see. The logo has to be right, the colours need to match the brand, the packaging needs to look professional and, of course, everything needs to arrive on time.
But there is something else that deserves just as much consideration.
What is actually in the chocolate?
It is easy to forget about the chocolate itself when you are concentrating on the branding around it. Yet when your customer, client or employee opens the packaging, the chocolate is what they are going to experience.
And not all chocolate is made in the same way.
At Baxter Murray Creative Chocolate, we have been crafting chocolate for businesses since 1995, so we have seen a lot of changes in the promotional chocolate industry. One thing that has never changed is our belief that if you are going to put a company’s name on a chocolate product, the chocolate itself should be luxury, delicious and something you are proud to give away.
What should you look for when ordering branded chocolate?
If you are buying chocolate for your business, it is worth looking beyond the price per bar.
Think about what you are actually giving to your customer. Ask what chocolate the supplier uses, where it comes from and what the ingredients are.
Find out whether the chocolate is made to order and whether the supplier can create a genuinely bespoke product if that is what your project requires.
And don’t be afraid to explain your idea, even if you aren’t sure whether it is possible.
Some of our best projects have started with a customer saying,
“We’ve got an idea, but we’re not sure if you can make it.”
That is often where the interesting conversations begin.
What is really in your chocolate?
There is a huge difference between chocolate made for the mass market and chocolate handmade specifically for your business.
Large manufacturers produce enormous quantities of chocolate every day. Their products have to be consistent, efficient to manufacture and suitable for distribution on a very large scale. There is absolutely a place for that type of chocolate, but it is a very different proposition from what we do at Baxter Murray.
Our premium Belgian milk chocolate contains 34% cocoa solids and is also palm-oil-free.
If you compare that with the ingredients found in some familiar mass-produced milk chocolate, you can see that the formulation can be quite different. For example, the Galaxy milk chocolate ingredient information we looked at lists a minimum of 25% cocoa solids and includes palm fat.
That isn’t about saying one product is right and another is wrong. They are simply made for different markets and different purposes.
For us, the important thing is that the chocolate we use to produce your corporate gifts should be considered just as carefully as the packaging its presented in.
Your branding doesn’t stop at the wrapper
We often talk to customers who have spent a great deal of time getting their branding exactly right. They know which shade of their corporate colour to use, where their logo should sit and what message they want to communicate.
That attention to detail is important.
But once the packaging is opened, the customer isn’t eating the logo. They are eating the chocolate.
That means the taste and quality of the chocolate become part of the experience of your brand too.
This is particularly relevant when chocolate is being used as a corporate gift. Whether you are thanking an important customer, rewarding your staff, welcoming guests to an event or sending Christmas gifts to clients, you are using the chocolate to say something about your business.
It doesn’t need to be extravagant. It just needs to be good.
We have always felt that good branding gets your chocolate noticed, but good chocolate gets it remembered.
We don’t simply put your logo on a standard chocolate bar
This is where Baxter Murray is rather different from mass-producers of chocolate bars.
A customer might come to us with a requirement for 500 personalised chocolate bars, in which case we’ll produce the chocolate bars and the packaging. But quite often the starting point is much less straightforward.
Someone will send us a visual and ask whether we can make it in chocolate. This is when our experience really comes into play.
We have our own in-house mould-making facilities, which means we can create a mould specifically in the shape or design the client is looking for. There is a lot to consider when turning a real object or complicated design into something that can actually be manufactured in chocolate.
We have previously worked with Nikon, their chocolate camera gift box is a particularly good example. They wanted a chocolate version of a camera from their collection for a Christmas gift. The original camera was too detailed to produce a direct replica so we worked from their line drawing and simplified the design while retaining the important features.
The result was a bespoke chocolate bar mould which captured the essence of their the camera. We then produced the chocolate bars, individually wrapped them in foil and a branded sleeve before supplying them a luxury bespoke branded box.
It was a relatively unusual request, but that is exactly the sort of project we enjoy.
The challenge isn’t simply making chocolate. It’s working out how to make your idea work as chocolate.
Experience matters when the brief isn’t straightforward
Over more than 30 years, we have made some very different chocolate products.
We’ve produced thousands of branded chocolate coins for corporate and charity milestones. We’ve made branded chocolate versions of products, vehicles and technical components, as well as personalised bars, coins, medals and lollipops.
Some customers know exactly what they want when they contact us. Others simply know that they want to give their customers or employees something memorable and need some help developing the idea.
Both are fine.
Our job is to listen to what they are trying to achieve and then work out the best way of making it happen.
That might mean using an existing mould. It might mean designing something completely new. It might mean changing the shape slightly so it works better in chocolate, or looking at a different packaging solution to keep the overall cost sensible.
After years of doing this, we have learned that sometimes the best answer isn’t the most complicated one.
Does a higher cocoa percentage mean better chocolate?
Cocoa content is certainly worth looking at when comparing chocolate, but it isn’t the only thing that determines quality.
The type and quality of the ingredients, the recipe, the way the chocolate is made and the balance of flavours all contribute to the finished product. Two chocolates with the same cocoa percentage can taste very different.
So we don’t believe that one number tells you everything you need to know.
For us, choosing the chocolate is about the finished eating experience. We want the chocolate to taste good, have the right texture and complement the product and packaging around it.
That is why we use premium Belgian chocolate for our handmade promotional and corporate gifts.
Chocolate made around your brand
At Baxter Murray, we are a family-run business and have been making creative chocolate since 1995.
We make our chocolate products in-house and can manage the process from the initial idea through to the mould, chocolate and packaging. We can help with the whole process.
And because we make bespoke chocolate rather than simply supplying mass-produced promotional products, we can create something that is genuinely relevant to your business.
Sometimes that will be a simple personalised chocolate bar, sometimes it will be a box of chocolates for your best customers.
Sometimes it will be thousands of branded chocolate coins delivered to different offices around the country. And sometimes it will be a branded chocolate replica of something that has never been made in chocolate before.
That’s what makes our work interesting.
Your brand doesn’t have to fit around the chocolate. We make the chocolate fit around your brand.
Your brand deserves more than an ordinary chocolate bar
The next time you are looking at branded chocolate for your business, don’t just look at the wrapper.
Look at what is inside it.
Because when you put your company name on a handmade chocolate gift, the chocolate becomes part of your brand experience.
At Baxter Murray, we believe that deserves some thought.
Premium Belgian chocolate. Bespoke moulds. Made and packaged in-house.
And, since 1995, a lot of experience turning good ideas into chocolate.
Your brand. In chocolate.
If you have a product, design or idea you’d like to turn into chocolate, talk to us. We’d love to see what we can create.
Discover the effect of handmade gifts at Sage Journals, another good reason to order from artisan chocolatiers.
