This is the first feature in a new series where we’re shining the spotlight on some of our favourite producers. We’re kicking things off with Costèllo + Hellerstein, a fantastic brand still in their infancy but with a small yet stunning range of chocolates that we’re delighted to have on our shelves.
Chocolatier Ori Hellerstein and former marketing recruiter Yvonne Costello run the business from their Cotswold base. Ori’s Le Cordon Bleu training and many years working as a Pastry Chef in some of London’s top restaurants were the foundation on which he started his own food business. Yvonne came on board to manage the day to day running but gradually became more involved in the creative side of things. It was while supplying artisan bread, cakes and petit fours to retailers and restaurants that a client suggested they make something more of the chocolate truffles. They took the advice and launched Costèllo + Hellerstein two years later.
Yvonne and Ori produce four different types of truffle: chocolate orange, hazelnut praline, raspberry and coconut and sea salt caramel. You can find the first three of these in our online shop but read on to discover what makes C+H stand out from the crowd. Yvonne was kind enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to have a chat with me.
How did you go about building the business?
While running our other business we developed the chocolate truffles for two years to get the flavour and texture just right. Then we then spent months with a design agency trying to bring everything in our heads to life to create our branding. We launched in September 2014.
The branding is quite different to other chocolates on the market, what was the inspiration and how was the design achieved?
It was hard! We believe fine food shouldn’t be too formal or dull so we wanted to design something that represents our creative view and that echoed the handmade, highly skilled technique that goes into making each truffle. We think the marbling design, the text and the gold C and H logo does this.
We agree! So will future products use the same design or do you plan to have a range?
We love the marbling effect of the boxes and think we will keep this design for the foreseeable future, but my dream would be to collaborate with some designers for limited edition boxes one day.
What’s the setup like at H+C HQ?
We have a bespoke kitchen facility with an area for making, an area for packing and my office. We spend so much time here it’s like our second home! There’s even a rocking horse and mini table and chair to keep our two-year-old happy when he visits. We usually work from 9am through until 6ish. I am in the office speaking to clients, receiving orders, communicating with our external PR team. At this stage of our business, we are still introducing the product to customers and potential retailers on the phone and face to face, so this is the biggest focus of my day. Ori makes the chocolates himself and will spend two to three days a week doing that. The rest of the time he’s speaking to our ingredients suppliers, visiting clients or helping me pack the boxes.
How do you go about creating a new chocolate?
Ori has such a fantastic amount of experience in food and one of his passions is developing new products. He has hundreds of ideas and so the difficult part is always choosing the one or two to drill down further into and explore. We have to take into consideration what consumers want to eat, what the trends of the confectionery world are and predict what they will be by the time we release our new product. Then we do lots of recipe testing and tasting sessions, refining the product constantly until we are happy with it.
Taste testing sounds wonderful – there must be more to it than just enjoying eating chocolate though?
Yes, we make sure it’s not just Ori and me sitting in a room feeding ourselves copious amounts of chocolates. We use a mix of people to rate the product, from food experts to consumers. It’s something that happens repeatedly both formally and informally until we get it right.
Which is your favourite flavour of your truffles?
I go through phases - at the moment I have a sea salt caramel with my cup of tea after lunch every day. In the run up to Christmas I couldn’t eat enough chocolate orange but now I’m moving towards the white chocolate and raspberry as everyone is talking about them in the run up to Valentine’s Day.
You must be surrounded by amazing chocolate. Is it as much of a dream job as we imagine?
Yes! I have such a sweet tooth and I always joked that I wanted to own a sweet shop one day. This isn’t too far from that idea, especially as I often find myself sitting at my desk surrounded by chocolate. I have been known to dream about chocolate waterfalls so it’s definitely my dream job.
What have you got in store for 2015?
We’re excited about 2015. This is just the beginning for us and our focus is on getting out truffles out there. We want everyone to start thinking of us when they want a sweet treat, need to buy a gift or have a special occasion: a box of Costèllo + Hellerstein chocolate truffles is perfect!
Many thanks to Yvonne for finding the time to speak to us. I hope you’re inspired to try a box of Costèllo + Hellerstein – they really are as good as they look!
