A vegan chocolate shop is slated to open in Nottingham next month. Called Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates, the shop will specialize in made-from-scratch, bean-to-bar chocolates that are paleo, vegan, and free from refined sugars.
According to the website, owner Luisa Vicinanza-Bedi makes her vegan chocolate bars and treats, like peanut butter cups and ganache truffles, from scratch. She uses organic cacao beans directly sourced from farms on Solomon Island. Further, all of Luisa’s direct trade vegan chocolates are made without artificial flavors, preservatives, or additives.
Luisa makes the vegan confections herself by roasting cacao beans in small batches rather than melting pre-made chocolate like other chocolatiers, and this, according to the Nottingham Post, makes Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates the city’s first bean-to-bar artisan chocolate shop.
A former art and textiles teacher, Luisa began making vegan chocolate two years ago. After finding success in selling her treats to customers at Sneinton Market, a historical community market that welcomes local vendors, Luisa decided to quit her teaching job at Nottingham Academy to pursue her passion.“I used to tell the children to follow their dreams and ambitions so I have got to practice what I preach,” she said.
Luisa is proud of her vegan chocolates, which are created in small batches using traditional Parisian techniques with minimal ingredients: “Our focus on purity means we can develop the flavor profile of the chocolates, which depends largely on their cultivation origins and growing conditions, much like a fine wine. You might be surprised to find out that chocolate is actually much more diverse in tastes than wine.”
In addition to selling hand-crafted, paleo vegan chocolate, Luisa also plans to attract customers to the Nottingham vegan shop by offering classes in chocolate-making and chocolate-tasting. The shop is expected to open on June 14 at one of the avenues in Steinton Market.
Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates in Nottingham won’t be the only UK vegan chocolate shop to open this summer. In Glasgow, a Willy Wonka-inspired shop called Vegan Burd is expected to open after a successful crowdfunding round.
Image Credit: Luisa’s Vegan Chocolates
