For those with a well-honed sweet tooth Chocolate Week is the finest seven days of the year. This year's theme is British chocolate and over the past decade home-grown artisan chocs have been gaining ground on the finest in the world.

Chantal Coady, owner of Rococo Chocolates on London's King's Road and founder of the Campaign for Real Chocolate has been producing artisan chocolates for the more than 25 years and has seen how consumers' expectations of chocolate have changed.

“Chocolate is, in a way, the orphan child of the food industry. When I first started, chocolate was languishing in an industrial way and I was alone, standing on my soap box expressing its magic. But today the artisan market is huge and exciting,” says Coady.

Specialist hand-made chocolates are a far cry from mass-produced Milk Tray-style selection boxes. Unusual flavours include heather honey by Marc Demarquette, sea salt caramel by L’Artisan du Chocolat, banana and Grenada Rum made at Rococo, and Paul A Young's palate challenging new range that features the ultra seasonal wild mushroom, Cerney goat's cheese and lemon and even a Worcester Sauce chocolate.

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The skill of the artisan chocolatier lies in being able to create extravagant detail and successfully match a type of choclate with its filling. Curious chocolate lovers are now able to learn how to make the perfect truffle at Coady’s "School of Chocolate". One man who would graduate with flying colours is this year’s winner of the UK Chocolate Masters, Mark Tilling who wowed judges with his Haute Couture themed sculpture standing one metre tall and weighing more than 30 kilograms.

Tilling, who is the head pastry chef at the Lainston House Hotel in Winchester says: “I only started making artisan chocolate around five years ago but it’s become more popular as people want to know where their food comes from these days.” Tilling will now go on to represent the UK at the World Chocolate Masters in Paris next year.

Gerard Coleman, founder and director of one of the most successful artisan chocolate shops in the capital, L’Artisan du Chocolat describes London as a “foodie city” which welcomes new talent: “Markets like Borough Market give artisans the opportunity to sell their chocolates to a discerning public.

“The artisan approach is doing something very pure and very natural where you take a quality ingredient and make a product that identifies you as an individual.“

Flavours in the pipeline at L’Artisan include salt and pepper flavoured chocolate, and balsamic vinegar caramel. However, Coleman argues that the secret to survival in the ever-increasing artisan market is individuality and consistency:

“There is a lot of repetition out there where chocolate makers copy each other but the essence of being an artisan is to challenge yourself and to always improve while maintaining a consistent level of quality.”

Tastings and events are being held all over the country throughout Chocolate Week. Visit www.chocolate-week.co.uk for more details.

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