According to Kantar during the first lockdown last year, sales of home baking items soared 49 per cent in the 12 weeks leading up to 14th June, and flour sales almost doubled as shoppers picked up an additional 21.4 million packs, boosting value to £46.6m. With people across the UK stocking their kitchen cupboards with baking ingredients, Firetree responded to the trend by launching Create with Firetree.
Previously offering 25g or 65g bars, Firetree the British super-premium chocolate brand is delighted to add Create to their collection. The range comes in three varieties Solomon Islands Guadalcanal 69%, Vanuatu Malekula Island 72% and Philippines Mindanao Island 73%. The 2kg bags of easy melt chocolate pieces are now available to buy online and are designed for chefs, pâtissiers, chocolatiers, and home cooks who demand the best ingredients and single estate chocolate in their kitchens. The packs will enable a taste journey through the remote, far-flung islands of the Pacific Ring of Fire and Philippines which is home to the cocoa trees that bear the best quality beans.
David Zulman Firetree’s Managing Director and Co-Founder comments: “On 15th July to celebrate the launch of Create, Firetree Ambassador and chef, Gourmet Glow* will host a cook along. The programme will guide you through the techniques needed to make an impressive chocolate dessert using one of our new ranges. We will provide the chocolate and a list of the remaining easy-to-source ingredients. Following a Q&A with Gourmet Glow, which will discuss expert food pairings, a live tasting of the rest of the Create range will then take place. This event is perfect for avid home cooks who are looking to create surprisingly easy wow-factor chocolate desserts and to pick the brain of a culinary and a chocolate expert in the same event.”
In partnership with Young Chef Young Waiter – a national competition open to all young professional waiters and chefs from any background – Firetree has invited the country’s brightest hospitality stars to an exclusive Firetree Chocolate Tasting Event at 3pm on Monday 7th June. This one-off event is to congratulate the finalist in the YCYW UK 2020 awards and gives special access into what makes Firetree some of the rarest chocolate in the world. Firetree’s Chocolate Maker Martyn O’Dare will explain how the rare cocoa is sourced directly and made into chocolate. During the virtual event, finalists will get to taste the three Firetree variants that make up Create and give their pairing and dish suggestions.
Firetree’s unique flavour of chocolate is due to the volcanic soil of these island estates, where the cocoa tree or “our firetree” thrives in uniquely rich, porous, volcanic soil. The Firetrees are immediately identifiable by their flame-hued cocoa pods, that give the chocolate its distinctive flavour which changes, develops and lingers on the palate. These super-premium cocoa beans are expertly selected by Firetree farmers and masterfully crafted by skilled chocolate makers to enhance, develop and bend the taste and create smooth, rich chocolate which is known for its depth and complexity. The outstanding farming practices and craft manufacturing processes include fermentation, drying in the tropical sun, slow conching and whole bean roasting to lock in the flavour.
The natural range is made up of three 2KG bags and contains no additives or flavourings. It is available to buy at £50 from the website. The packs are dairy-free, suitable for vegans and lactose-intolerant people, as well as being halal and kosher certified.
www.firetreechocolate.com
