Loom Craft Chocolate began operations mid-year in 2020 and last year, 2022, has been the absolute best! The company has evolved in many ways and the time spent, the lessons learned, and the small and significant wins have all culminated in what I would describe in simple words as confidence. Look what we’ve done!
2022 was growth!
Product testing is a critical part of the NAFDAC certification process and I had imagined a couple of bars per product would be submitted to the agency but I’d estimated poorly! We initiated the certification process in 2018 and were required to submit samples of each flavor of chocolate for testing. The number was fifteen per product! Fifteen! When I read the requirement, I groaned because our production capacity at the time was extremely low. Also, the cost of forty-five bars (we had three flavors) and other miscellaneous registration fees gave me mental fatigue.
Fast forward to 2022 and I am completely amused at how disgruntled I felt. First, I have a better understanding of how laboratory tests are executed. The science people need enough material to test for a broad range of factors. Secondly, when you make fifty thousand bars annually, fifteen is a smidgen. Of the 50K bars produced in 2022, one of our nearly twenty flavors dominated in terms of demand. You can grab one here and see why this bar is so popular!
We collaborated and explored!
We moved into our factory space at Kubwa, Abuja in 2021 and the building had to meet safety and regulatory requirements before we started production. But, for aesthetics, we are a complete work-in-progress! I’ve been told that I’m overly self-conscious about how the factory looks (Forgive me! I’ve got big dreams.) This self-consciousness had held me back from opening up the factory for tours but that changed in September 2022 when we met Zino of Abuja Food Tours. The maiden event was a thoroughly good time and it is so satisfying to see both kids and adult light up when they attend our Tour and Taste. Find out more about what we offer at Tour and Taste.
We strengthened upstream partnerships!
We are in the business of cocoa beans and cocoa farmers play a vital role in ensuring that we receive high-quality raw materials. In 2022, we established stronger relationships with our existing farmer-partners and forged new ones. A highlight was attending the first-ever Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria, CFAN festival where we gave out 200 bars of chocolate to cocoa farmers. Another highlight was visiting a cocoa farm in Wasimi town, Ondo State, and establishing the standard protocol for cocoa bean fermentation and drying.
We had a great year and are pumped for 2023!