Multi-award winning Clo Chocolates based in the heart of Sligo
CLO CHOCOLATES at Le Fourneil Bakery in Tobergal Lane has a reputation for excellence and most important of all creating artisan chocolate creations that are simply exceptional, reflecting the genius of their creator Clo.
A multi-award winning business based in the heart of Sligo, the name of the business comes from the French name of the creator of the wonderful and often spectacular chocolate treats Clotilde Rambaud – known to all as Clo.
For many the famous Charles M. Schulz line “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt” is one of the best recommendations you can have for enjoying chocolate, but for Clo Chocolates their business has brought the sense of enjoyment of their products to another level.
Over the past ten years Clotilde has developed her range of chocolates and combined this knowledge with fresh local produce reflected in the flavour of her unique blend. There’s no surprise then that this winning combination has yielded her many awards for her ranges where she won gold in 2020 for her Boozy Truffles and in 2021, Clo won gold for her Whiskey experience linking up with another great local producer in distilled whiskey.
Clo went on to receive the Blas na hÉireann 2021 Overall Winner in County Sligo for a second year. The award was presented to her in Sligo this week together with the other award recipients.
This overall County Sligo winner and gold medal win in Blas na hÉireann Irish Food Awards is well timed as she opens her new chocolate manufacturing unit for her beautiful handmade chocolate ranges at the end of this month – more on this later. This together with her re-branding and packaging, positions her well within the national and international markets.
Her new website goes live with all the new ranges of artisan chocolates at www.clochocolates.ie and gives everybody the opportunity to place orders early for Christmas for both personal and corporate markets. Since she was eight years of age Clo had a passion for food and went to school at Les Sorbets, Noirmoutier, France where she learned the art of pâtisserie and chocolate making. Here she achieved high standards, and this led her to a two Star Michelin Restaurant in Paris, La Table de Joel Robuchon, with the renowned Joel Robuchon.
Clo mastered her craft there and perfected her chocolate making creations. In Paris she worked with the team creating chocolates and pâtisseries for the restaurant with responsibility for the daily chocolate dessert creations.
Clo wanted more opportunities and travelled in New Zealand and Europe, all the time perfecting her craft and always learning within the trade. She arrived in Ireland and fell in love with the country and in particular with Sligo.
She met her partner Tomasz in Sligo and after some more travel Sligo was calling and they returned and bought a small bakery in the heart of the town at Tobergal Lane
Shortly after this Clo Chocolates, her long dreamed of chocolate business was established.
With her ever-growing basket of awards, Clo’s business continues to go from strength to strength and she believes working closely with local businesses in Sligo such as Kate’s Kitchen is the only way forward.
She said she admired how business in the town supported each other to grow and in particular during lockdown the people of Sligo supported their businesses, ensuring their survival. Clo works closely with local business in Sligo such as Kate’s Kitchen and believes it is the only way forward, supporting each other to grow. Indeed, even during lockdown the Sligo people supported their local business and that is how we continue to survive.
She says Sligo is ideally positioned in the West of Ireland and it has gained great recognition on the Wild Atlantic Way in the last number of years. She sees the footfall from the Wild Atlantic Way reflected in the number of visitors to her business. She adds that the supports available through the Local Enterprise Office and their many programmes and mentoring opportunities is hugely beneficial, as people are always learning as they grow their business.