Next up in our Q&A feature is the lovely ladies over at Rock & Roast
Describe what your brand does?
Rock & Roast gift boxes are an exhibition of the highest quality coffee and chocolate that Scotland has to offer. You order online, we deliver to your door. What we do is wonderfully simple. We collate high-quality, hand-made coffee and chocolate from independent craftsmen who are passionate about creating fresh and natural flavours. As a guide we include a 250g bag of freshly roasted coffee (beans or ground), a large bar of chocolate (between 80-100g), one smaller bar (about 50g), two truffles and a surprise ‘share-me’ chocolate along with an information leaflet about the artisans and their products, plus your personal message to the recipient.
How long have you been in business?
Since 1 October 2014, but Rock & Roast has been in the making for a year now.
What was the inspiration behind setting up your own business?
We are all working mums with careers varying from finance, marketing and medicine and regularly enjoyed an early morning coffee or mid afternoon chocolate break to discuss a new career that used these professional attributes. We all had a mutual passion for quality coffee and chocolate and dreamt about capturing this indulgent treat.
What has been the biggest challenge in getting your product to market?
Learning from scratch how to build a website!
How do you decide what makes it into each month’s box?
It’s a very tough job, but we taste every product that is considered for the box. If we all agree on its quality and taste, then it makes it into our boxes. We also sample the coffee with the chocolates to ensure they compliment each other well. Often we will pair coffee roasters with chocolatiers that use their beans to make coffee flavoured chocolate.
What makes you stand out from other similar products?
We are the first company in the UK to source, combine and deliver the highest quality artisan coffee and chocolate to your door. We promise to deliver a unique taste experience in a box.
How did you find your niche?
We found our niche in our home town of North Berwick where a love for coffee and chocolate can be seen in the many cafés around town.
What’s been your favourite coffee and chocolate so far?
Now that’s an impossible question to answer! We are passionate about good coffee and chocolate and if it’s hand crafted and high quality then we’re going to love it. We have really enjoyed sampling some gorgeous tastes, from honey bourbon raw chocolate truffles, to organic rose and vanilla white, to smoked hebridean sea salt and Java milk chocolate, all out of this world!
Are there any plans to make a seasonal product? If so, what will it be?
Throughout the year Rock & Roast will be offering special seasonal edition gift boxes for occasions such as Christmas, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s or Father’s Day. Our Christmas box will include a hand picked selection of festive seasonal coffee and chocolates and will be available at www.rockandroast.co.uk soon.
Where can we buy your product?
Our product is available through our online shop.
Outside of coffee and chocolate what is your next passion?
Caroline – skiing, there’s nothing like being the first person on the mountains as the sun is rising.
Leisha – anything to do with the sea – sailing, kayaking, or just sitting admiring it – I’m happy if I’m next to it.
Zoe – running, particularly on our beach in North Berwick.
Anything else we’ve not asked that you’d like to tell us?
If you want to gift someone a unique and indulgent surprise, then a Rock & Roast box is ideal. It’s an easy, but thoughtful way to send a real treat. Priced at £19.99 (plus postage) it will be hand-packed and delivered to a specified address within 3-5 working days or next day delivery using Royal Mail.
In our house this would go down a treat. Mr Edinburger could have the coffee and I could have the tasty chocolate although with his sweet tooth I can see Mr Edinburger having both to himself. A huge thanks to Caroline, Zoe and Leisha for taking the time to answer our questions and the photographs. Hopefully that’s got you thinking about how you source your coffee and if you like the idea, head over to their website where you can sign up. With Christmas just around the corner, do you know a foodie who would love a present like this??
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