“Me in 2018, realising that life as a primary school teacher wasn’t for me any more” – the first words on a video from a TikTok account called ‘Cocoa Drop,’ that popped up on my For You Page.
Next, a collegiate of pictures, from a woman called Natalie Halwin, documenting her story from classroom teacher, to the founder of Cocoa Drop, an independent, luxury chocolate business, which she lovingly handcrafts.
From Classroom To Cocoa
Natalie is a self-confessed – proud – chocoholic! Affectionately nicknamed ‘chocolate monster’ by her mother, as a child, she loved all types, all flavours of chocolate. While most kids can be picky when it comes to their sweets, Natalie adored everything.
I’m one of those people that need chocolate every single day, that need to have something sweet every single day!”
Natalie never foresaw her future career as a chocolatier until 2018, when everything changed. Despite being a primary school teacher for ten years and enjoying teaching children and encouraging their education, Natalie experienced bouts of depression and anxiety.
“Although I did love teaching, it was just losing its’ shine for me.”
Providence came through, in the form of her husband, who gifted her a chocolate class for her birthday. Off to York she went, experiencing a day of tempering chocolates and making her own creations. Remembering the first experience brings back a warm smile.
“I came back and I was just buzzing! We made our own little chocolates, I came back and then me, my husband and kids just devoured them!”
Having experienced a taste of what she can do, she then began crafting chocolates in her kitchen. She shared them with her family and friends, who encouraged her to sell them. At first, she was hesitant.
“Obviously I thought, people are just saying that aren’t they? When you first start doing this stuff. But then it kind of got me thinking…”
A soft launch was the way to go. Her first stop was to hit the stalls at the school where she taught.
“I don’t know if it was because all the kids knew me and their parents as well. But I literally made as much chocolate as I could – and I sold every single thing! And I thought – I really like this. I like the interaction with people, I like telling them about the chocolates and got really excited when they kept coming back up for more.”
Following that success, she booked local markets and gradually began building her chocolate business, while gently reducing her school hours. For Natalie, it felt like tiptoeing into a brave new world, where she was the creator.
“I kind of started making up my own little brand, as much as I could. I was making the chocolates from my kitchen, booking local stalls and absolutely loving it. I just kept booking stuff and booking stuff!”
Tempering In Darkness
But then in 2019, life took a bitter turn. Her mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer around her 60th birthday. Anyone who has suffered through this, knows how much your dreams and plans are suffocated under the weight of shock, grief and panic. You can’t think or move forward, aside from this new path you’ve been pushed onto, which is watching your loved one go.
Perhaps it’s foresight into a realm we cannot see, or a loving gift from a mother to her daughter, but Natalie’s mother wasn’t going to let her give up on her dream. She encouraged Natalie to go all in and pursue her chocolate business full-time.
“We had lots of chats about stuff and she said to me – ‘you don’t want to teach anymore. You love the chocolate, I love the chocolate, everybody loves the chocolate. You need to do this! You need to be happy, because teaching doesn’t make you happy anymore.’”
After her mother’s death, naturally, Natalie lost her inspiration. Walking through a lingering fog of grief, makes it hard to see the path ahead. Luckily, there was a light glimmering at the end, in the form of Natalie’s mother’s voice, telling her to get a move on!
“About six months after, I just kind of flicked. I was like – ‘right come on. Your Mum told you to do this. So you need to get yourself engaged. Do it!’”
A Sugar Rush
Then 2020 hit and the whole world screeched to a halt. Everyone began working from home – or pursuing their passions in their own time. Natalie used this opportunity to sweeten everyone’s frightened world, just a little bit. Having only created her chocolates for family, friends and local stalls, she was now branching out into the world. The only way we could connect, was online, and that’s exactly what she did. She set up her online business, and it thrived during the pandemic. But it was Easter time, when her chocolate was really in high demand.
“I just ploughed everything into the business online, because it was Easter as well. And people were after Easter eggs, like crazy! My business just went insane.”
When the world started opening up again, post-lockdown, Natalie quit her teaching completely and focused on building her business. Since then, she has expanded to include corporate clients and now has her products in shops. She handles all aspects of the business herself, such as making and packaging to selling and marketing the chocolates.
“For three months, it was insane and I couldn’t keep on top of it all. So, I gave myself another year, to get established, then I quit my teaching job. Lockdown gave me a lot of spare time and the amount of chocolate eggs I was making was crazy!”
Melting Hearts
Her family, particularly her children, are her guinea pigs when it comes to trying out new chocolate products. But it was her son’s lactose intolerance that inspired Natalie to try out a new vegan range, to make chocolate more inclusive.
“I started thinking up different things for him. Sometimes vegan chocolate doesn’t always taste right for kids. So he was a heavy taster in that!”
Chocolate fillings are also a personal preference. As a nation, we all know our favourites very well during the pillaging of a selection box and seeing what poor strays are left behind. For me, it’s fruity fillings and nuts that I’m not a fan of. I wondered how Natalie gauges the market’s reaction to her choice of chocolate fillings.
“I’ve got your staple chocolates. Your caramels, Bailey’s, coffee. But for fruity fillings, I tend to keep that for Summer, because I think it’s quite seasonal, like strawberries or raspberries. I’m a huge fan of Jaffa cakes, so I’ve got an orange filling too.”
A Sweeter Finish
Natalie now has the freedom to experiment and create any chocolate she wants. Her inspiration stems from a childhood favourite – the Thorntons’ Viennese truffles. Now… here at Tasting Britain, we value honesty when it comes to food.
Therefore, we have no shame in admitting that we’ve all noticed how corporate chocolate has changed significantly over the decades. Not just in size (is it our imagination or are they getting smaller?) but in quality too; they’ve become too sweet. Any chocolatier worth their sugar knows that you need a nice balance of sugar and bitterness, to create a mouthwatering piece of chocolate.
Perhaps, this is now the time for artisan chocolatiers like Natalie to swoop in and remind us of how chocolate can be enjoyed as a treat.
Marketing any business is a struggle when you don’t have a massive PR team behind you. Small, independent businesses, including those in the food industry are teaching themselves how to market themselves on social media. That’s where TikTok comes in.
“I feel like I’m a bit of a novice with social media. Although, I used to be a teacher, I’m quite shy. I tried to start like TikTok probably a year and a half ago and just did some things that have probably reached about 200 people. And about January time, I said, right, I’m giving my TikTok another go. But then the one that obviously you saw, that’s the biggest one. I think it’s got 59,000 views on it or something now, which for me is massive.”
For Natalie, it’s a nice sneak peek into her world, where you can watch behind-the-scenes clips of her tempering chocolate, working the stalls and most importantly – sharing her journey. She feels that it’s nice for her customers to know the person behind the chocolates.
Natalie also marvels at the irony of building a healthier relationship with chocolate. Back when she was a teacher, she was using it as an emotional crutch to get her through the day. But now, she can enjoy tasting and creating, without worrying about any consequences.
“I eat chocolate every day still, but I appreciate it so much more. Every single bite of it, I just appreciate it, rather than using it as a vice to just make myself feel happy. Now, I’m enjoying it.”
With Halloween lurking around the corner and Christmas glittering at the end of the road, you can be rest assured that your trick or treats and stocking fillers, will be in Cocoa Drops’ safe hands.
And for Natalie? She’ll continue crafting, tempering and creating. For her, every truffle is more than chocolate. It’s a reminder of resilience, of creativity and of finding sweetness, in life’s bitter shell.
Order your chocolates from Cocoa Drop here: cocoadrop.co.uk
Follow Cocoa Drop on social media:
Instagram: @cocoadropchoc
TikTok: @cocoa.drop