Homemade, luxury chocolate with ‘weird and wacky’ flavours made right here in Northampton

A luxury chocolate business which specialises in homemade, quirky chocolate flavours is another Northampton-based company that has excelled during a difficult year.

Gorge Platters was started by Amy Halford in her Kingsthorpe home last year after she decided she wanted to teach herself something new.

After watching YouTube videos aplenty and coming up with ‘weird and wacky’ flavours, Amy started making blocks, giant coins, cups and more brimming with popular sweets and treats.

Last year’s festive season was busy for the chocolate business as Amy attended Christmas markets, but it was the launch of online sales once the pandemic hit this year that really catapulted the company.

The 29-year-old who also works for Barclays said: “I’ve always loved chocolate as does everyone else so I started playing around with chocolate and I really enjoyed it.

“Chocolate really makes people happy, which I love doing as well.

“We did really well last Christmas and better than I thought we would so I didn’t know what to expect from this year.

“But when I launched online at the start of the first lockdown, I was overwhelmed by the response. It went crazy.”

Amy offered doorstep deliveries when lockdown hit, which she believes helped her business thrive as she had a lot of customers surprising loved ones they could not see.

Ever since, business has boomed for Amy as orders have started to come in from Wales, Scotland and Ireland, as she prides herself in making a ‘quality product’.

Amy added: “I use Belgian chocolate for everything I do and then there’s quite a long process of tempering it, but that’s important as that creates the shine and snap to make it a quality product.

“In an hour I can make around 25 normal sized bars and then I have friends who like trying things so they help me see what works.

“If it’s edible I will try it so some do turn out better than others.”

The businesswoman now has around 45 different flavours of chocolate bars from Mint Aero, Kinder Bueno Hippos and fruit sweets, as well a ‘make your own’ choice and a new Christmas selection box ahead of the 2020 festive period.

“Chocolate is a lovely gift to receive anyway. Everyone loves to indulge and it’s not something you can get in supermarkets,” Amy continued.

“A lot of people have gone in on local businesses this year, which has been great.

“This whole thing has brought the town together so hopefully everyone carries on supporting the small businesses when life goes back to normal.”

Earlier in the year, Amy also came second for the grocery category of the young traders national market competition, which has helped to give her confidence that the business is something she can do full time without her other job.

With another busy Christmas on the horizon, Amy is also looking for a space to make the chocolate as it has taken over too much of her house.

To find out more and to order chocolate search Gorge Platters on Instagram or Facebook or visit the website.

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