Rebel Chocolate was launched last year by Neil Robson and Suzanne Graham. They set out to make healthier chocolate that is high in protein and contains half the sugar of high street brands. Last week the firm won Scottish Innovation of the Year at the Scottish SME Business Awards. Suppliers already range from Tinderbox, Kimble’s and Peckhams in Glasgow to coffee shops, delis and garden centres across the UK but Robson has set his sights on international expansion.
Name: Neil Robson
Age: 45
Position: Founder
WHAT’S YOUR BUSINESS CALLED?
Rebel Chocolate.
WHERE IS IT BASED?
Glasgow.
WHY DID YOU SET UP THE BUSINESS?
I’M a scientist by trade. In 2006 I injured my back in martial arts training. I tried to go down the surgery path in 2011 but that failed. I have chronic back pain so I need to take medication to get by. I decided I couldn’t be a scientist anymore because it involved a lot of sitting down which wasn’t great for my back so my science career was over. I did a Masters degree in biochemistry so I’m interested in protein – there’s lots of things in supermarkets with added protein at the moment. I wanted to make a new snack bar that wasn’t made of fruit and nuts as many of them are. It took us eight months to get the chocolate recipe right.
WHERE IS THE CHOCOLATE STOCKED?
WE started to sell at farmers markets to test the waters and then started approaching shops. We were very cautious of the number of people we were approaching because we could only make 25kg of chocolate a week. In January this year we went to our first trade show – the speciality food show at the SEC in Glasgow. There we met an international buyer who wanted to sell our chocolate in the US and Canada. We are now looking at investors because chocolate making is an expensive business. We are sold in Tinderbox and all the well-known cafes in Glasgow but we want to get bigger.
HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM COMPETING BUSINESSES?
WE use some of the best cocoa in the world – the cocoa we use in our Madagascan chocolate recently won an award. I want to use more interesting flavours. We have a Belgian chocolate and use different cocoa sources which is seeping more into the mainstream –Waitrose recently made chocolate with single origin cocoa.
There is a growing number of people interested in not just having standard flavour chocolate and want quality cocoa. Hopefully we are lighting the way for great tasting chocolate.
WHAT IS YOUR TARGET MARKET?
WE have been really lucky because a real range of people buy our chocolate. We sell lots of chocolate to the body building shop Better Bodies on Dumbarton Road. You wouldn’t expect it but we sell very well there.
The product is for people who want high end chocolate. From a business perspective this has been fantastic. We have a customer base of people willing to spend a few more pounds. It’s not people who want a sweet cheap chocolate bar. It has a really wide appeal from health-conscious consumers to the gym and supplement market.
WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT RUNNING THE BUSINESS?
SEEING our creation come to life. We set up the business in our kitchen and now run a small chocolate factory. In science you work in universities where there are people above you and it’s a hierarchy. We create our own recipes and sell to who we want to sell to. The freedom of having control is good. The worry is if it doesn’t work out but that’s a positive too because it makes it exciting. It is really satisfying when people enjoy your product.
WHERE DO YOU HOPE THE BUSINESS WILL BE IN 10 YEARS?
WE are looking for investment for equipment. We want to become a national and international brand.
A big potential market for us is Asia. Around five to 10 per cent of people in the UK are lactose intolerant but in Asia that is around 80 per cent. They consume less lactose than us.
People in China have a real distrust for their own milk
industry and trust European milk products. We hope to produce enough chocolate to export it around the world.
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