Visit Simply Chocolicious in The Mall Blackburn
2nd April 2012
The Mall Blackburn’s third Retail Factor finalist is a master chocolatier whose customer base includes top celebrities such as Amy Childs!
Mother of three Sabiha Patel launched Simply Chocolicious, which sells unique, delicious edible treats, three years ago after perfecting the art of chocolate making and researching ideas and strategies.
She recently provided personalised chocolate lollipops for the goody bags at the launch of Amy Childs’ fabulous SS12 Clothing Collection at Gilgamesh in Camden. Other clients include overseas royalty, charities and nationwide businesses.
Orders for her products, which are all Halal and suitable for vegetarians, have ranged from one off designs to orders of up to 1600 handmade products, which she personally creates from start to finish.
Simply Chocolicious’s unique products include edible roses, chocolate engagement rings, three foot chocolate cars and chocolate pizza!
The company also creates its own unique flavours with fresh ingredients and its current best seller being a mouth-watering mango and white chocolate.
Sabiha heard about the Retail Factor competition when she was shopping at The Mall Blackburn and was urged to enter by friends and family. Her passion, drive and high quality, exclusive products earned her a place in the top three. She will be trading in The Mall until Saturday 7th April.
The Retail Factor competition was launched in January to provide budding entrepreneurs with a fantastic opportunity to broaden their horizons and the chance to win a £10,000 business package.
Sabiha said: “I was thrilled to hear that I had been selected as one of the Retail Factor finalists and I have been busy ‘choccing away,’ which is how I describe my chocolate making!
“All my products are made from scratch and not many people realise that there is a very scientific side to chocolate.
“You need to get every stage of the process right to ensure it has the correct sheen and the ‘snapping’ sound when you break chocolate needs to be perfect.
“What started as a passion for making chocolate as a hobby has grown very quickly into an exciting business that is really taking off!
“Supplying stars such as Amy Childs is a real privilege and it has been a really thrilling couple of years. I am hoping that my time in The Mall will lead to a more permanent retail base to complement the ‘made to order’ side of my business.”
A total of three companies were short-listed to take part in the Retail Factor final and each business has been allocated two weeks on a retail merchandising unit.
The first to trade was Islamic art specialists Baitul Fhunoon, followed by specialist embroidery company Inkthreadable and finally Simply Chocolicious.
At the end of the trading periods, a panel of judges will assess how each business has performed, taking into account trading results. The winner will be awarded a £10,000 prize featuring two month’s rent-free retail space in The Mall Blackburn and £500 towards stock.
The judges are last year’s local and national champion Sophia Patel, business advisor Salma Chaudhry and The Mall’s General Manager Loraine Jones and Marketing Manager Samantha Butcher.
And because the Retail Factor competition is being staged in Mall shopping centres across the UK, the Blackburn winner will also be in with a chance of winning a national prize: a place on an exclusive retail business course at the BHF-BSSA Oxford Summer School.
Loraine Jones, General Manager at The Mall Blackburn, said: “Sabiha’s products immediately caught the eyes of all the judges and her business acumen and almost tangible passion for what she does led to her being shortlisted.
“Her products are already proving very popular with shoppers here in The Mall and we are all looking forward to seeing the results and choosing a winner soon.”
