new vegan chocolate company

[thehappyhippo]

Dear all,

I have set up a business making vegan chocolate truffles called the happy hippo. If I can be so confident (or may be a touch arrogant) I would love to tell you that they are fantastic. I spent a number of years on these recipes and I am very happy as no one can tell that they are vegan and they are often described by other as creamy and as "some of the best chocolates I have tasted". They are made with two varieties of organic chocolates and they are entirely natural, even the packaging is completely compostable.

If you want to know more then please go to the website below:-

http://www.thehappyhippo.org.uk

Only a few shops sell them at the moment as I hate sales and the business is only 6 months old. But they can be bought online.

happily

gareth

[Blue Plastic Straw]

Those flavors sound delish. Alas, I am in the U.S.

[thehappyhippo]

Not sure if I can sell outside the UK yet. Not sure I want to either really as I bet there are some fantastic choc companies in the U.S.

[lilac wine]

Not sure if I can sell outside the UK yet. Not sure I want to either really as I bet there are some fantastic choc companies in the U.S.

they sound delicious & the packaging is darling!

[NickelDime]

Best of luck to you. Looks fantastic.

[Blue Plastic Straw]

Not sure if I can sell outside the UK yet. Not sure I want to either really as I bet there are some fantastic choc companies in the U.S.

Oh, I wouldn't expect you to, I was just bemoaning my lack of access. :)

[isowish]

they sound lovely. And quite cheap. I think I will buy some; but I can't until I have more money :p

[isowish]

I've had a great idea! I will get the coffee ones for an easter present for myself since I gave up coffee for lent! :nana:

[thehappyhippo]

they sound lovely. And quite cheap. I think I will buy some; but I can't until I have more money.

I've had a great idea! I will get the coffee ones for an easter present for myself since I gave up coffee for lent! :nana:

What a truly fantastic idea :naughty:. They should be more expensive but because the packaging is designed to be as small and eco-friendly as possible they look smaller than the other chocolates so I have to lower the prices to get people to pick them up and feel their weight.

[janie]

They look yummy. :) I like the unique flavors you have - great idea!

[Black Heart]

They look great - do you do a mixed box of all the different flavours?

[karenlovessnow]

Sounds great...good luck to you! :)

[thehappyhippo]

They look great - do you do a mixed box of all the different flavours?

I have a mixed flavour box that may be coming out in September. It gets a bit more complicated with mixed flavour boxes as you got to be able to tell one flavour from another. I'm trying to think of an easy way that doesn't require excessive packaging, haven't worked it out yet but then I have been focusing on my new chocolate bar range a lot.

Thank you for all the positive comments. Glad you like the idea of more interesting flavours. The salt and pepper is the weirdest but gives chocolate a very unique flavour.

[ghelfling]

Not sure if I can sell outside the UK yet. Not sure I want to either really as I bet there are some fantastic choc companies in the U.S.

how come? is there some kind of protocol you have to follow before you can sell outside uk? you'll have to excuse my ignorance...

i would like to try them, luv truffles. i'm in california, usa...

[thehappyhippo]

Honestly I don't know but I just read this and it makes me think eek.

There are restrictions on commercial exporters of food to the United States. Owners, operators or agents in charge of a domestic or foreign facility must register with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). UK companies wishing to export food to the US must have a US registered agent.

I do find it incredible that food and drug is part of the same department though.

[Falcarius]

I will have to try some one day.:)

[SARC]

Hi,

I've not tried these chocolates yet, but I hope to soon! If anyone is in the Southampton area, Happy Hippo chocolates will be on sale at the Southampton Cruelty Free Festival on 12th May 2007 at the Southampton Guildhall! www.crueltyfreefestival.com - there are going to be loads of other great companies too and samples to try. It's free entry and doors open at 11am. If you are thinking about traveling from out the area, it's a really short walk from the train station

[thehappyhippo]

Hi,

I've not tried these chocolates yet, but I hope to soon! If anyone is in the Southampton area, Happy Hippo chocolates will be on sale at the Southampton Cruelty Free Festival on 12th May 2007 at the Southampton Guildhall! www.crueltyfreefestival.com - there are going to be loads of other great companies too and samples to try. It's free entry and doors open at 11am. If you are thinking about traveling from out the area, it's a really short walk from the train station

Hey stop using my thread to perform your advertisements. Hehe only joking. I'm looking forward to this as it'll be my first stall of the year and I'm hoping to have my swanky new banners printed for it plus release my new mini-box of chocs.

[Punk_in_Drublic]

I will spread the word of that! I'll buy some when i can find some money!

[Rahkoon]

This sounds fantastic, my most horrible nightmare when I went vegan was to satisfy my chocolate cravings with this bitter, dark chocolate I didn't like (apart from the French cheese part, this was the hardest to give up).
But
Being a French person (hehe it's a good excuse for almost any weird thing) I kind of like the taste of chocolate itself. Isn't there any "plain" truffles? Like, non-coffee or maple syrup or coconut or anything. Just your plain old delicious chocolate truffle, only vegan?

Good luck with these though, I might give them a shot next time I'm in London :)

[isowish]

I've had a great idea! I will get the coffee ones for an easter present for myself since I gave up coffee for lent! :nana:

I ordered some a couple of days ago. :D

[thehappyhippo]

.........Isn't there any "plain" truffles? Like, non-coffee or maple syrup or coconut or anything. Just your plain old delicious chocolate truffle, only vegan?

Good luck with these though, I might give them a shot next time I'm in London :)

I am able to make "plain" truffles if you want them but for special orders there is a minimum order of 3 boxes as this ensures that there is no wastage and that it is worth my time (they do take a while to make).

Thankyou for the good luck

[isowish]

I am able to make "plain" truffles if you want them but for special orders there is a minimum order of 3 boxes as this ensures that there is no wastage and that it is worth my time (they do take a while to make).

Thankyou for the good luck

why don't you offer plain truffles as 'standard' though? I imagine they would be quite popular. My girlfriend asked about them too when she was on your site this morning.

[LadyFaile]

yep not that i can order from where i am but if i could i would probably be somewhat interested in trying a couple of flavours but would be looking forward to plain chocolate the most. before i went vegan i loved truffles and i would always buy them at craft shows and chocolate shops that sell them individually where you can put together your own mixed box... i'd get 1 each of 2 or 3 flavours that i wanted to try and fill the rest of the box with plain chocolate, milk and dark. they're always my fav.

this could lend to some great promotions down the road too. such as buy x number of boxes of plain chocolate get a free sampler box of flavoured ones. this would encourage less adventurous folks to try out the more unusual flavours. if you're not sure you'd like a flavour there's no sense in spending the money on a whole box. plain chocolate is nice and safe lol


these look really good though

[thehappyhippo]

why don't you offer plain truffles as 'standard' though? I imagine they would be quite popular. My girlfriend asked about them too when she was on your site this morning.

The maple one is really called my plain truffle by a number of my regulars. The maple flavour is subtle and maple syrup is the perfect thickness to make the truffle soft enough. If I was to make a truly plain truffle the texture of the truffle would suffer slightly unless I could use another mild, liquid syrup and the flavourless syrups I can buy are of large quantities. Something to think about in the future though.