Our Story
“Making artisanal chocolate is alchemy”
You take the best base ingredients and treat them with respect to create something precious and rare. It was this magical spark that ignited Gemini founder Samuel Chandler’s interest in chocolate.
The journey began when Sam, a former musician from Brighton, moved back to Yorkshire and discovered a true and genuine interest in nutrition and healthy eating. From this growing passion, he discovered the impressive health benefits of the mysterious cacao bean. Gemini was then born from this simple question – why does chocolate have a reputation for being unhealthy when the cacao bean is so healthy?
The short answer is that the overuse of sugar, dairy, refined vegetable oils, emulsifiers and processing techniques not only hide the intoxicating complex flavour notes of the cacao bean, but also it’s health benefits.
So Sam set out to hone a recipe and technique that combined organic nutritious ingredients into a delicious and rewarding chocolate. The creation has been developed without compromise to his main objective – healthy and ethically produced chocolate that tastes amazing.
“Chocolate to Live For”
He conjured up this chocolate in a small kitchen in the east Yorkshire countryside and started selling it at local markets. The response was great, and as demand slowly grew it became apparent that a space larger than a domestic kitchen was required.
This sent him on a long journey that took him to London and then back again to east Yorkshire where it all began.
He’s now found the perfect space in a beautiful part of Beverley where he has also opened his first shop!
This is now the base of Gemini Chocolate, but the years spent in London will not be forgotten.
Here Gemini Chocolate continues to grow and develop striving to bring you the best possible chocolate with the health of people and the environment firmly in our minds.
This is – Chocolate to Live For.
Organic and vegan
Our Chocolate Process
The heart of any chocolate is the cacao bean and Samuel sourced the very best. Gemini chocolate uses only the single origin rare Creole cacao beans from Peru, known as the Queen of Cacao. These are the highest grade beans, prized for their complex flavour and aroma.
The beans are then stone ground and moulded into chocolate, which means that all the nutrients and antioxidants are preserved. All of Gemini’s chocolate is vegan and free from dairy, gluten, soya, emulsifiers or anything unnatural.
Everything is still hand made and Samuel uses organic fruits, nuts and infusions to develop creative, unique, award-winning flavour combinations, offering unexpected and inventive fillings like puffed quinoa alongside more traditional hazelnut and coffee and walnut.
Gemini’s journey is still unfolding as Samuel continues to experiment to discover new flavours to add to his award winning range of uniquely delicious raw chocolate.
