Success so sweet for chocolatier!
Legendary cake balls earn shop national praise
A CHOCOLATE shop has been named one of the best independent traders in the country.
Misco’s, in Leek, was among 50 shops spotlighted by
The Observer newspaper, alongside Jackson’s Nurseries in Bagnall.
The report praised the Sheepmarket store’s ‘legendary’ cake balls and homemade desserts.
It said: “Misco’s cake balls (gluten free) are legendary, but then so are most of the amazing chocolates they sell – locals are rightly proud and boastful of this small but lovely shop.
“Look for the assorted boxes of delicious little chocolates tied up with colourful bows – never mind about the perfect present for anyone else, buy one for yourself. If you’re lucky, they may be selling homemade crumble-topped stewed fruit with ice-cream and caramelised almonds.”
The idea for Misco’s was born in December 2011 when Meg Davies and husband Cisco made chocolates for friends and family as Christmas gifts. The business launched the following year when Cisco’s mother went on Deal or No Deal and then invested £1,000 to help them get off the ground.
Meg, who lives in Leek, said the mention in The Observer had ‘given the team a great boost in morale’.
The 38-year-old said: “Since we appeared in the paper, we’ve sent out a lot of postal orders all around the country. We are so proud that we were chosen because it’s not something we really think about.
“We don’t enter competitions, we just crack on and make lovely products because the best advertising is word of mouth. But it has given the team a great boost in morale after the horrendous couple of years we’ve all had.
“We’re a family business with a tiny team and we are doing incredibly well. We could be taking 10 times as much if we were based in a big city, but we love being based in Leek. It’s
a quirky and sweet town with great independent traders and a lovely atmosphere. Why should all the posh chocolate shops just be in big cities?”
In the run-up to Christmas, Meg and her team go from making 3,500 chocolates a week in their production facility in Leek to 30,000 – working about 80 hours a week – to meet demand. Meg said: “It’s a military operation and quite formative for the team. You’ll often find us belting out Christmas tunes at 2am. When you see all the chocolates stacked up, it’s amazing. All of our boxes are individually picked and hand-tied.
“When you buy from a business like this, it makes a big difference. I feel quite overwhelmed that people keep supporting us and keep buying from us. I don’t really know how to express how much it means.”
Jacksons Nurseries in Bagnall was also featured in The Observer list, where it was described as a ‘jewel’.
The report said: “Family-run Jacksons Nurseries has been a Staffordshire favourite for more than 50 years, but thanks to its incredibly comprehensive and regularly updated website that offers customers the option to buy by flower colour, flowering time, foliage type and hardiness, it has become a UK jewel.
“With a farm shop and a tea room, it is a great place to stop for a scone before perusing its collection of secateurs.”