Fudge Kitchen celebrates 35th birthday with a £100k facelift that focuses on the personality of this wonderfully quirky brand, including …

… full interior and exterior rebranding of the seven shops, in Bath, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Canterbury, Oxford, Windsor and York, launching March 2018

… new packaging-reduced boxes and recyclable bags that save the planet whilst having a laugh - well, Does my Fudge Look Big in This ..?

… and a shiny new website set to launch in Summer 2018 …

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Changing pre-confections …

It is 35 years since the first Fudge Kitchen opened its doors, introducing an American concept of fresh whipping cream fudge, made to an authentic 1830s recipe. Introducing the pioneering concept of 'retail theatre', the shops still hand make fudge in full view of the customer, using traditional techniques involving copper cauldrons of bubbling fudge, poured onto marble and 'loafed and slabbed' using huge spatulas to turn the cooling fudge and achieve that FK famed creaminess.

It was risky. High-end, gift chocolate had a place in consumer comprehension, but fudge? Fudge made by true artisans, using only the finest ingredients? Fudge that didn't come in a box with a kitten on the front? Fudge that was soft, fresh and smooth …?

The first major refit of Fudge Kitchen shops in 2007 was all about educating the consumer to this potential and reflecting that premium positioning, drawing on the design language of the luxury chocolate sector. After 35 years of educating the market, in total, Fudge Kitchen's new rebrand is about communicating the collective, big personality and values of the company.

“We have successfully repositioned and educated people that fudge, done properly, with natural, and good quality ingredients can be something rather special and spectacular,” says MD Sian Holt. “Fudge Kitchen has grown-up and now is the time to let our own, very unique personality and strong brand shine through in its own right. Quirky straplines and design features reflect the group personality of the fudge family, and lighter-brighter colours let the hero of the piece, our fudge, stand out on a fresh, contemporary stage all of its own.“

Design concept-ionery …

Fudge Kitchen is variously famed: for exceptional, multiple award-winning confectionery, for trailblazing NPD innovation, for exquisite packaging, for sure. But equally for the fabulously maverick staff, replete with moonlighting musicians, stand-up comedians, artists, even bell ringers; with crazy millinery, upbeat banter and hugely theatrical skills to boot.

Poor Jamie McFarlane, from Let's Talk Agency, was tasked with communicating the whole disparate shebang. And, as he explains, he has done just that:

"As the branding agency for Fudge Kitchen, we've helped the brand update its image to bring out its personality more consistently. Previously, each of the stores had different interior designs that only followed a loose branding theme. Our designs make the branding consistent across all stores, while letting each shop retain its individual flavour.” 

"We chose each store's colours according to the new brand colour palette, and implemented common features that would be present in each store. Every shop now has a large cocoa powder explosion graphic on its walls, expressing the energy, passion and fun of the brand, and highlighting the big copper pot where the fudge is made – the focal point of the stores” Jamie McFarlane, Director, Lets Talk Agency

The result is bright, light, and artisanal functional; with clear, colour-coded signage, flavour and allergen information and a layout designed for both efficiency and as a stage for the fabulously theatrical process that is traditional fudge making, which customers specifically visit to watch. Yet, with the quirky details that differentiate the brand – from the rubber duck and chainsaw listed on the Fudge Tooling board, to sage advice accompanying the Fudge Flavours: ”Remember, more is more and less is lazy” and “Don't Tap on the Glass, it Scares the Fudge”.

Bags of personality …

This same celebration of the unique Fudge Kitchen sense of fun regularly makes social media stars out of the rebranded bags, which bear straplines including …

Does My Fudge Look Big This?

[Help] I'm Not Gonna Make It Home In One Piece

Are You Lookin' At My Fudge?

[Woah] Get The Fudge Out of Here!

[Caution] I'm Stuffed with Fudge

With the laughs come eco-credentials, however. Fudge Kitchen is serious about Corporate Social Responsibility; from actively reducing waste in production to annually supporting a chosen charity to tackling the packaging issue head-on.

The new bags (example above) are recyclable paper and the redesigned Fudge Kitchen gift boxes (right) have been reduced in size to minimise packaging waste, while still retaining that luxury feel … and keeping our fudge nice and snug!

Digital retouching…

Meanwhile, the Fudge Kitchen website is equally undergoing a mega makeover, launching afresh in Summer 2018

A confectionery compendium, the new site will be a fascinating resource of fudge making history, dietary information, FK facts, shop details and special offers, as well as being a supremely user-friendly eTail outlet for the full 20-strong range, including close to 100 product lines.

New functions also include personalising options for assembling …

• Build a Box bespoke original fudge selections - decide between four or six slices, choose your box and select from 15 flavours, plus limited editions, from the famous whipping cream, “slab fudge” range.
• Build a Hamper - choose from three hamper sizes, select your ribbon colour, then fill with the prescribed number of products, chosen from across the entire Fudge Kitchen range.

Says Digital Marketing Manager, Kira Harris, “The new look completes a Fudge Kitchen branding overhaul hat trick. It takes the same tack of being contemporary, clean and clear, responsive, smoothly functional and easily navigable, while communicating the unique style and voice of Fudge Kitchen and providing a sumptuous shop window for our full, extensive range that will have noses pressed up against it.”

“This overhaul will be the first stage of design”, she continues, “there will be several further developments through the year continuously expanding on efforts to bring the shops, the website and the social mediums together. We understand that our customers love to interact with our staff through the shops, on their social media pages and on our website. Our aim is to make it as easy as possible for humans from both sides to connect through these digital mediums over their love of fudge.”

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Editors' notes …

• Fudge Kitchen started as Jim Garrahy's Fudge Kitchen in Blackpool in 1983. In 1995, the company was bought by MD Sian Holt, who, over the course of 15 years, expanded the Fudge Kitchen retail side into seven thriving shops in Bath, York, Cambridge, Canterbury, Windsor, Edinburgh and Oxford; before steering the brand into a new, exciting wholesale phase of its life, with the development in 2012 of the Devilishly Different Gourmet Fudge Still using the finest, natural ingredients, handmade and hand decorated by an artisan staff in their new dedicated production facility in Aylesham, Kent, but now with an extended shelf life of eighteen months. The company now exports to over 20 countries from France to the Falkland Islands and has also moved into the food service own label, corporate and hospitality sectors.

• The 90+ strong range of products includes Drinking Fudge, Fudge Sauces, Gift Hampers, Dipped Sticks, themed selections of miniatures, Fudge Fondues, Sliders, Sharing Squares, Fudge Making kits and the Delectables range of Brittles, Barks and Caramels; and a menu of some 40 flavours. All are available online at co.uk and selected lines are available through over 200 stockists nationwide including Selfridges, Waitrose, Lakeland, Firebox, Fenwicks, Adnams and independent speciality stores across the UK. Fudge Kitchen are also proud to supply some of the UK's most luxurious hotels, Wembley Stadium events and to make own label fudge products for Selfridges, Harrods and Whittard's of Chelsea, amongst others.

Digital brochure: http://www.fudgekitchen.co.uk/files/FudgeKitchenCatalogue.pdf

• Every year, Fudge Kitchen selects a charity to support over the ensuing 12 months, through fund-raising, sporting craziness, awareness building and donations from dedicated sales. It has seen Fudge Kitchen staff pedaling across India to raise £1,185 to replace slum housing, cycling from London to Paris and across Cambodia and Vietnam, raising over £6,000 for Breast Cancer Now; plus a London Marathon run and a 2017 National Fudge Day fundraiser, across all seven shops, for The Lily Foundation, which supports the treatment of, families of sufferers and research into Mitochondrial Disease.

• Fudge Kitchen supply their products direct, but also export through European distributors Bommel, in Holland (http://www.bommelsconserven.nl), Der Suesse Regenbogen, Karsten Ebert, Gross-u Einzelhandel (https://dersuesseregenbogen.de) and Piccadilly Purveyors of Fine Food in New Zealand (http://piccadilly.co.nz/).

• The boasty bit: Fudge Kitchen are proud to have received fifteen Great Taste Awards in 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017 for their Rich Chocolate & Orange Fudge, Penuche Fudge, Double Trouble Fudge, Peanut Butter Fudge, Sticky Toffee Pudding Gourmet Fudge, Hazelnut Heaven Gourmet Fudge, Sea Salted Caramel Fudge, Juniper & Kaffir Lime Dry Gin Fudge, Butterscotch Fudge Sauce, Stem Ginger Fudge Sauce, Almond Bark, Peanut Brittle, sugar free Peanut Brittle and sugar free Salted Caramels; and to have been named Ambient Manufacturing Company of the Year at the 2014/15 industry Oscars, the Food Manufacturing Excellence Awards. MD Sian Holt was awarded a Special Award for Leadership and Vision by Produced in Kent and was listed in the Kent Business Power List of 40 most influential business leaders in Kent.

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weblinks:                                                                                                

w:      www.fudgekitchen.co.uk                                                

f:        www.facebook.com/fudgekitchen                                   

tw:     @fudgekitchen                                                             

blog:  www.fudgeblog.co.uk                                                   

press enquiries:

Lisa Jones, Dandelion PR

e:       lisa@dandelionpr.co.uk

tw:     @dandylisa

t:        07968 963456