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Cornish chocolate maker, Chocolarder, has invested in £100,000 specialist equipment to increase production of its artisan bean-to-bar chocolate.

The Falmouth-based firm secured finance via Truro-based asset finance provider Ignition to buy the equipment including a cooling line which helps regulate the temperature of the chocolate prior to packaging.

Chocolarder founder Mike Longman said the new cooling line is already helping to improve consistency and accelerate production.

He said: "The introduction of the cooling line has been very timely, helping us to meet unprecedented demand, particularly over the busy Christmas period. We are absolutely focused on creating high-quality chocolate using sustainable and ethical practices, and the cooling line will help us to ensure it can be enjoyed by even more customers across the country and beyond.”

Chocolarder has been trading near Falmouth for almost ten years and is one of only a handful of bean-to-bar dark and milk chocolate makers in the country, supplying retailers such as Selfridges and The Great Cornish Food Store.

Organic cocoa beans are sourced directly from selected single estate and family run plantations from Peru and Dominican Republic to Sierra Leone, Madagascar and Colombia.

The beans are then roasted, winnowed, stone ground, roll-refined, tempered, crafted into shape, and packaged on site at the company’s specialist factory.