"We saw a lot of changes in 2009 as companies shifted towards shorter events lasting no more than a day which therefore needed to be closer to their offices" said Company Director Stuart Hedges, "we have a variety of locations in city centres around the UK where we can hold chocolate making workshops where clients do not have to travel too far".
In the Chocolate Making event the group is divided into teams and given a lesson in making fine chocolates by a professional chef who trained in La Gavroche, one of London's top restaurants. They are then tasked with making their own box of fine chocolates and coming up with a marketing campaign which is presented to a panel of judges.
Every year sees trends in the sort of events that are popular and 2009 was certainly big for anything connected to cooking. One advantage of chocolate making within that genre is that full kitchen facilities are not required and there is no actual cooking of food. This makes it possible at any location with adequate space.
Chocolate making ticks a number of boxes. As well as being venue friendly and locatable close to client offices it also appeals to a broad range of people, where some outdoor team building activities can be perceived as overly macho. Another advantage is that it is held indoors, so it really is a year round event.
Another trend, explains Hedges, is for events to need to be business relevant. "Chocolate making is a clear task which must be carried out with limited resources and in a set time frame. Adding the marketing plan requirement makes it even more business relevant" he explains.
Chocolate making can be run in conjunction with personality profiling and workstyles programmes such as Belbin team behaviour profiling. | 