Baravelli's is run by Mark and Emma Baravelli, a husband and wife who built Wales' first bean to bar workshop inside the town walls. Emma came from fashion design and Mark from engineering, and between them they turn sacks of raw cacao into slab bars and hand painted truffles, all made on the premises. The same workshop has filled the windows of Harrods and the shelves of Fortnum and Mason.
Most chocolate shops melt down bought-in couverture and remould it. We do not. A bar here begins as raw cacao from a named farm, and goes through every stage in the Conwy workshop. When Baravelli's started, only two other makers in the whole of the UK were doing this.
“The whole point of doing this is to be innovative and to know exactly what goes into the chocolate, plus it will give us our own identity.” Mark Baravelli, on going bean to bar
Every bar starts as a sack of cacao, not a block of bought-in couverture. We roast, winnow and conch in the Conwy workshop, with beans from named farms in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Trinidad and Madagascar. Peppermint 72 percent, Cafe Noir decaf, salted pistachio, rose and a dark raspberry among them.
The boxed pieces are finished one at a time and hand painted, which is why no two batches look quite alike. Customers come back for the salt and pepper truffle, the raspberry, the mojito, and the rosemary and black olive that took a Great Taste award.
When Harrods wanted twelve Easter eggs for the Knightsbridge windows, the moulds and the extra output came out of this workshop. We make Easter collections, Halloween masks, Valentine boxes and bespoke pieces to order, the same way, on the same bench.
Real drinking chocolate, Chocstix, dark dipped honeycomb, ginger pebbles and chocolate coated cherries. The everyday end of the cabinet, made to the same standard as the boxes that go to London.
Emma trained in fashion design and brings the eye that decides how a finished piece should look. Mark came from engineering and built the bean to bar process himself, down to adapting the equipment for small batches. They started Baravelli's in 2011, sheltered by the Conwy castle walls, and have made everything they sell on the premises ever since.
“For us, chocolate is more than just a treat. It is a canvas upon which we paint flavours, textures and emotions.” Mark and Emma Baravelli
Buying the bean instead of the block means we taste the difference between a Madagascar and an Ecuador, and we can stand behind every gram. It is slower and it is harder, and it is the whole reason the shop exists.
A short note to start, whether it is a gift box, a commission or a question about an origin. For anything boxed and posted, the online shop is the quickest route. Or just phone 01492 330540 and talk to the shop.
13 Bangor Road
Conwy LL32 8NG
Phone · 01492 330540
Email · sweetstuff@baravellis.com
We are on Bangor Road inside the medieval walls of Conwy, a short walk from the castle and the quay, where the Smallest House in Great Britain sits by the water. Plenty to make a morning of it.
ORIAU AGOR · OPENING HOURSOpen Tuesday to Saturday, ten until five. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Yes. We were the first company in Wales to make chocolate from the bean to the bar, and only the third in the whole of the UK to do it. Everything in the cabinet is made in the workshop here on Bangor Road, inside the Conwy town walls.
From named farms in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Trinidad and Madagascar. Each origin tastes different, which is the point of buying the bean rather than the block. We roast, winnow, conch and temper it all in house.
That is most of what we do. Boxed selections, Easter eggs, Valentine boxes and bespoke commissions. We made twelve Easter eggs for the Harrods windows the same way, so a single box for a birthday is no trouble. Call in or phone 01492 330540.
We ship across the UK from the online shop, and you are very welcome to call in. The shop is at 13 Bangor Road, open Tuesday to Saturday, ten until five.
If you like dark, the Peppermint 72 percent bar or the salt and pepper truffle. If you are buying a gift, the Dark House Selection. And a hot chocolate while you are in the shop, made from the same chocolate we sell.