Pure Chocolate
Sweet success
Pure creates high quality chocolate products, in particular delicious and unique truffles. These come in a wide choice of flavours and blends that make it stand out from others in the chocolate industry
Pure Chocolate began in 2007 with just one factory, and has since opened another in 2013. It derives its name from the city it was founded and operates in, Pure in Latvia. It is a family owned business – by a father and son – that strives to be a strong and fast growing company. Though it is in some respects a small producer, in a small town – which has a population of around 2000, it supplies countries all over the world with uniquely designed chocolates. The approach taken at Pure means that in less than a decade it has built a global reputation.
The company outsources several products – it produces ice cream and cakes, which prove popular in the summer, but the heart of the company and the main focus of it is chocolate truffles. These are all made from natural materials and for special customers it has fair trade and UTZ chocolate, and Pure is committed to providing the most innovative flavours for its consumers, and makes about 60 or 70 tonnes of chocolate a month.
Pure works according to ISO 22,000:2500 and the BRC food safety management system, ensuring that everything it makes not only provides an amazing taste, but also peace of mind that it is has been made under brilliant standards.
The chocolates are all made by a team of passionate and dedicated experts, that come up with the various flavour combinations and truffle designs. The love that goes into the product should not be underestimated, there is a genuine belief in the food that is being made. This is able to happen due to it being a small family owned business, and the staff are committed to doing the company proud and meeting its values, all in order to ensure that a customer will try Pure chocolates once and will want the truffles again.
Member of the board Karlis Kvals went into greater detail about the truffles it crafts: “We have three lines of chocolate truffles. The first one that is really unique and shows why Pure chocolate is high class is the decorated option, this is our premium line, which is more for special events like Christmas, Easter, EID Mubarak or birthdays etc. The raw material is purchased as a chocolate from Belgium, and we then use only natural fillings and natural garnishing around it, such as dried fruits etc. Then we have the smaller truffles without decorations, these are more for every day enjoyment, and this has two lines, the berry line and the cream line. The berry line has a square box of 75g, it also has a larger box option as well for the more indulgent days. Lastly, we have a more recent addition that we launched a year and a half ago which is really exciting, and these are big twisted truffles, which are for pick and mix bags or standup bags.” Karlis was also keen to impress that Pure is always innovating and adapting to changes in tastes: “Our technologists are always working on new flavours. Different regions have different tastes, some that are proving popular in the Gulf are flavours like cheesecake, whereas in the USA cookie butter is preferred.” The variety of products means that whatever occasion, and whatever taste someone has in chocolate, then there will be a selection from Pure that is perfect.
Ambitious aims
One way in which Pure has established itself in the global market is by attending trade fairs, something that Karlis highlighted: “The trade shows are very important for us. All our customers who we have outside of the Baltic States we met there. The most important fair is the ISM in Cologne, and next year it will be the 6th year in a row where we have participated. Every year we get around three to five deals from it, one recent deal we secured is in New Zealand.” Pure also is active at many other events as well, these range from in Chicago in America, to Shanghai in China.
The company has achieved a great deal in a short period, but intends to build on this, and one of the ambitions that the owner’s aim for is that one-day everyone in the world will taste a Pure chocolate at lease once. The company has other strategies, which are a less long-term than that, as Karlis outlines: “The plan is to grow at least twice in terms of volume and turnover until 2020. The next four years we have to build the business up, and it is quite realistic at this point. We will invest in new equipment, and we will move forward in some places at varying speeds depending on the market.” This flexible approach means Pure is more sustainable, rather than booming too fast and getting caught out by material price changes or demand drops.
Pure has seen improvements year on year, which is no wonder when the range and quality of the product is considered. The truffles that the company makes are unique, and the flavours stand out, to such a degree that whether it is in the US, Russia, Gulf States, Japan, or anywhere in-between, there is a growing demand for its chocolate. Pure has made inroads in a great number of countries now, it seems just a matter of time until the people in those areas try one truffle and can’t stop having more.