What a fantastic year!

We can’t believe how far we’ve come in only 12 months.

But it didn’t start off that great, January 2009 was pretty bleak in the world of Sobo – we were freezing our chocolate chips off at Camden Market every Saturday and Sunday, dreaming of bigger things.   To top it off, we got burgled, and our laptop containing all of our fantastic recipes, ideas, hopes and dreams got taken from us…..

So we sat down with a good old fashioned pen and paper and started to work on how we could make things better at Sobo.  We decided that 2 market stalls weren’t quite enough to change the world of chocolate, and that not enough people were getting to find out just how good cookies and brownies could be.

Whilst still deciding on how we were going to expand, we were standing on a wet Saturday afternoon selling our wares at an Artisan Market at the Queen Victoria Pub, Uxbridge Road in Shepherds Bush.  (I’m not sure if this market still goes on, but I highly recommend the sausage rolls from the Pieminster if you’re there, and then to head in for some amazing food from inside the Pub).

A very nice family came to try our cookies, and we introduced ourself to the Dad, called Tim – who happens to run a number of cafes called Brew – (Borough Market and Northcote road are just 2 of his establishments) .  He asked if we could supply wholesale, and without thinking how we would deliver (we both have full time jobs) we said ‘of course’ and agreed to supply cookies the following week. 

A week later, we were introduced to a friend of Dom at the Farm Collective, who became our second customer. 

At this time, Ben came on full time to work for us, and started to deliver to an ever growing number of cafes – Ben doubling up as a salesman, driver and everything else a small company needs when the owners aren’t there full time.

Our customer list grew, as did our recognition.  Then in April we received a call from a lady who worked at a large department store called Selfridges.  We were convinced it was a wind-up, but we were invited to talk to them, and 3 months, lots of forms and lots of food testing later, we were on the shelves in Selfridges in the foodhall. 

Two very exciting food fairs later on, whilst still growing the cafe business, and we were in discussions with another large foodhall in London – to cut a long story short, we turned them down (crazy, it would seem, but probably one of the best decisions we’ve ever made) as what they wanted wasn’t quite what we wanted (very long story).

Then in September we met with Harvey Nichols – who wanted us on their shelves – and we wanted to be on their shelves! So we launched there just a few weeks ago and it’s going amazingly well!

A pretty good food fair in December and a nice Christmas party, and here we are.

We’re soooo proud to be where we are right now, to go from 2 market stalls to supplying about 35 cafes and two of the most prestigous department stores IN THE WORLD!

2010 is going to be even bigger for us – we have our online store launching in January, and lots more plans we’re finalising, as well as sorting out a big Fat Irish Wedding for ourselves! 

So a big thanks to everyone that has ever worked with us inside or outside Sobo, you should all know by now just how much we appreciate our legendary hard working Oompa Loompas (Ben, Elle, Soontara, Sam, Rita, and our supersubs Handy Henry and Ryan the Raconteur).

And also a big thank you to the following:

Bobby Rakich and Chris Dobson for being the most amazing design team in the world!  Louise for all the photos of our beautiful goodies.

Creative Orchestra for being such an amazing neighbour in the creative and kindness sense (and for putting up with Ben). 

Dave and Andy for being superstars for helping us move unit and and also helping out at events when we needed help.

Malcom and Jo at Vantage House  for being everything a small chocolate company needs.

And finally thanks to everyone who has ever bought a Sobo Chocolate, Cookie or Brownie – we love each and every one of you!

Become a fan on Facebook – or follow our ramblings on the Twitter Machine 

The Famous Five, a truly fantastic troupe of cookie monsters.

How do we know this?

Well, last week was tough – I mean real tough.  We launched at Harvey Nichols, one of our mixers was out of action and we did Taste of Christmas, as well as supplying Selfridges and the 30 or so other places we supply our cookies and other chocolatey things to.  Our guys made thousands and thousands of cookies for us, all baked to perfection, delivered with style and served with a smile.

Our guys really pulled out all of the stops.  It’s really humbling owning a business when your team are so dedicated, and will make sure they get the job done.

Legends, absolute legends.

Firstly, we’re launching at Harvey Nichols on Friday 4th December.  As well as our legendary cookies, they’re taking on the spectacular gooey Sobo Brownie, and our new Millionnaire Shortbread.   Simon and the guys at Harvey Nichols have done a great job and are putting together a spectacular display for us.  We can’t wait to see how it looks.  Head up to the Foodmarket on the Fifth Floor to see what all the fuss is about.

Also this weekend we are serving the great and good at the Taste of Christmas in London’s ExCeL centre from Friday 4th to Sunday 6th December.  On Saturday 4th at 11am, James will be teaching a Chocolate Masterclass in the Taste Chocolate area.  Please come along and show your support for London’s coolest chocolate company, and try not to heckle too loudly.  Details of tichets and everything else can be found on the Taste of Christmas website.

Love and Chocolate

The Sobo Team

We got back from the London Speciality and Fine Food Fair on Tuesday night, and what a great few days it was.

Elle and Soontara did all the fantastic baking, whilst our new driver – Mr Henry St Clair did the rounds in the cookie van to our regular customers.  Meanwhile Helen, James and Ben gave away hundreds of cookies. 

We were overwhelmed with the response from all over the country – it’s good to know that our cookies aren’t just popular in London, and are a hit with independent cafes, restaurants, colleges, Governments, Belgians and a few very nice stores in Central London. 

Thankfully, Melissa from Choi Time was on hand to exchange cookies for some of the most amazing tea you’ll ever taste, which kept us going.

If you left your details with us, thanks for doing so – we’re ploughing through the list as we speak, and if you’re from oop North, down South or in West Wales, we’re frantically trying to figure out how to get our goodies to you – thanks for all of the great ideas!

PS – about a week and a half ago, a certain Mr Capello came to our stall on the Kings Road and bought a few cookies.  Within 11 days, the English Football squad have qualified for South Africa 2010……. Co-incidence?  I don’t think so.

Helen and I are immensely proud to announce that we are launching our range of cookies that have been so popular at the Kings Road and Camden, in Selfridges.  

We’ve come a long way since we started in Camden Market in October 2007.  That first day was truly awful, sellling £30 of goods after 3 hours sleep, smashed glasses, parking fines, lost equipment, freezing toes, but all worth it for a Venezualan couple telling us that we made the best chocolates they’d ever tried 2 weeks later.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be doing some tastings at Selfridges, so come along and try them, and say ‘mmmm’.  You’ll learn why we sell thousands of these each week, and why we’re constantly told that we make the best cookies that our loyal Sobo-lovers have tried.

The dates we have so far are

Thursday 27 August  – 1-4pm

Sunday 30 August 1-4pm

Wednesday 2 September 4-7pm

Friday 4 September 4-7pm

You’ll be able to meet Helen and I, Elle and Ben.

Can’t stop smiling…..

So now for the thank you’s

Thanks to everyone that has ever helped us out – starting with our current superstars – Elle, Ben and Soontara

What a fantastic event (despite the bombscare)!  Our guys worked their butts off - Elle and Nicola worked every hour they could making sure we had super fresh cookies and Helen and I put in some serious overtime making our handmade chocolates until 1am the night before the show.

Ben was a legend as usual - as well as delivering to all our regular customers, he was helping us get ready for the event by designing our new banners and driving to and fro to Taste, whilst Ryan kept the good-ship Camden on an even keel as ever.

London Chocolate  lovers came to our stand in droves and they loved our handmade giant cookies, decadent brownies, addictive credit crunch and marvellous truffles.  Thanks to everyone for their wonderful comments and feedback – we’re really happy you all enjoyed them so much!  It really made all the very hard work for a whole week worth it!

Those in the know are aware that the best London Chocolate can be found every week at Partridges Market, Kings Road and at Camden Lock Market but we can’t wait to do some more big events so we’ll see you at the BBC Good Food Show in London in November and Taste of Christmas in December!

Or you can use the following methods:

Fast typer?

email: info@sobochocolate.com

Like a chat?

General enquiries – speak to James (a very nice chap) – 07939 358 124

Wholesale enquries – speak to Ben (a very very nice chap) – 07515 798 236

Old fashioned?

Write us a letter:

Unit 105 Belgravia Workshops

159-163 Marlborouh Road

London N19 4NF

We taught ourselves to make chocolate, spending hour after hour trying new combinations, literally getting covered in chocolate, so we could sell them at our first ever stall in Camden.

We import the finest Belgian chocolate and  melt it down into a smooth consistency, add some cream and alcohol (if we’re  in the mood) to make our ganache (truffle filling).  Once this is set, we hand-roll the truffles, and dip them into even more chocolates, creating a lovely shell around the ganache – some truffles are then covered in chocolate shavings, cocoa or nuts.

As with everything we do, it’s all about simple flavours and the highest quality ingredients.

Contact us below if you want to find out more about chocolates for wedding favours, your shop, as a gift for someone or just for you!

Our cookies are made from natural ingredients with no additives or preservatives using old fashioned  baking methods, just like your Nan used to (but with way more chocolate than your Nan would have allowed you!).

We make thousands of our different flavoured cookies each week, cramming as much chocolate into each cookie as we possibly can.

We use real Belgian chocolate, rather than cocoa and vegetable oil  and real eggs as opposed to egg powder ( take a look at the ingredients of the next pack of chocolate chip cookies you buy – you’ll be amazed at some of the nasty things in there).

Click here to see where you can get them from, or use the box to the right to contact us.