A very modern Willy Wonka
Neil Thomas meets an award-winning Shropshire chocolatier renowned for her daring flavours.
Chocolate is surely the most popular confectionary in the world. So many people love it. A few can’t live without it, the self-confessed chocoholics. Chocolate is a staple of festivals and special occasions – Easter, Christmas, birthdays, Valentine’s.
Luxury handmade chocolates are an indulgence few can resist, one of life’s little treats. Which tends to make Shropshire’s Natalie Park pretty popular. For Natalie – Tilly to family and friends – is an award-winning chocolatier.
She describes herself as “Shropshire’s modern day (and slightly more glamorous version) of Willy Wonka”. The name Tilly Wonka springs to mind but unfortunately another company nabbed it first! So, Natalie settled for ChocTilly. Visitors to Much Wenlock may have noticed her shop in High Street. Her workshop, which also has a sales counter, is at the Maws Craft Centre in Jackfield.
Now for those of you asking ‘who on earth is Willy Wonka?’, he’s the eccentric chocolate factory owner in a much-loved Roald Dahl children’s story, and three spin-off movies.
Whilst there is nothing eccentric about Tilly, she is certainly a colourful character, not to mention a shrewd, driven businesswoman. A quick glance at the ChocTilly website gives a good idea of the extent of her chocolate-making skills. Flavours –both subtle and bold and undoubtedly inventive – are at the heart of what she does.
The ChocTilly bonbon range numbers nearly 40 different flavours with exotic names like Passionate Kiss, From Dubai with Love, Cupid, Boozy Peach and Nuts about You.
“We have fun thinking up the names. My husband Matt came up with the Passionate Kiss for the passionfruit caramel and it still makes me laugh, the idea of someone coming into the shop and asking for a Passionate Kiss.”
Tilly pays close attention to ingredients, with the emphasis on ethically-sourced natural products, and a selection of her chocolates are vegan friendly. It goes to the heart of why she chose to train as a chocolatier in the first place. It started with a chance encounter with a customer at the newsagent’s and sweet shop, Mrs P’s, that Natalie runs in Much Wenlock.
“It was in June 2018. I was working in the shop when an elderly woman came in and asked about the ingredients in the milk chocolate ganache, as she had an allergy. It had a shelf life of 12-18 months which I originally thought was great but then I saw why: Ingredients included neutral alcohol, preservatives, additives. I thought, oh my life.”
It triggered an interest in the manufacturing process of chocolate. In January 2019 Tilly enrolled for training at the UK Chocolate Academy Centre in Banbury, Oxfordshire, with a follow up course in March. She was hooked and saw an exciting new career opening up. Then Covid came and put her plans on hold – along with those of most people.
“I had never made chocolate before I went to work at the academy. I loved it.”
She then took an online course with world-renowned chocolatier and patisserie chef Melissa Coppel, who is based in Las Vegas, USA.
“She has won loads of awards and takes a very ethical approach,” Tilly explains “She is not about using preservatives and additives but, instead uses all natural products like water or coconut milk. This aspect appealed to me particularly as I’m dairy intolerant which led me to develop my vegan range.”
It was the start of a journey of international training and knowledge gathering from expert chocolatiers and pastry chefs including Belgium’s Alexandre Bourdeaux, Spain’s Ramon Morató and Olivier Fernandez as well as Julie Sharp and Clare England in the UK.
She has since visited Melissa Coppel in Vegas in person as well as undertaking fact-finding visits to New York. She has visited Dubai twice for training as well learning at the Belgium Academy. “Their factory and chocolate library are amazing.
“There are more advanced level chefs abroad, particularly in the USA – I’ve been to New York and Nevada six times in total – Belgium and Switzerland.”
Rewinding to early 2021, when the premises at Maws Centre became available, Tilly took it on, kitting it out into a chocolate-making workshop, helped by her father Wayne, an agricultural engineer.
“He was great. Because of his engineering background he was able to help me with all the practical stuff,” she recalls. “He also challenged me about it to make sure I was totally committed. There we were sticking up hygiene cladding and so on and he would say ‘Are you sure you want to do this? You are spending a lot of money and you haven’t sold a single chocolate yet.’
“I said ‘definitely’. My attitude is that I’d much rather do it and fail than never try.”
It also helped that Tilly has a background in accountancy and had also done a business course in the past, which stood her in good stead. “I love maths and have always been good with figures. I was confident I could make it work as a business.”
The Maws shop duly opened in May 2021. She could hardly have made a more enterprising start. Pleased with the first chocolate she made, a lemon gel and olive oil ganache, she entered it in the Great Taste Awards – and won a national award!
It was a ringing endorsement for someone who admits she often doubted her own abilities as a youngster. Others clearly believe in her. She received a Telford & Wrekin Council business grant to invest in ChocTilly, enabling her to buy new cutting equipment. As the business has grown, she has continued to invest in state-of-the-art equipment, including an enrober, a large machine used to coat chocolate and other items of confectionary.
She loves to experiment with flavours – she even tried out a soy sauce flavoured chocolate! She keeps an eye on what is trending and travels widely to see what other chocolate makers are doing to pick up ideas.
“I have come across mushy pea and baked bean flavoured ganache so there are people trying different things.
“I like to attract attention and be a little controversial,” she says. She is a fan of Heston Blumenthal, the celebrity chef and three-Michelin star winner, renowned for his groundbreakingly unusual flavour combinations. “I’ve been to his restaurant which was great.”
ChocTilly continued to grow, opening its second premises in February 2022, in High Street, Much Wenlock. The store has since been extended to provide a dine-in experience.
Tilly runs chocolate-making workshops at Maws Craft Centre and hosts children’s parties, hen parties and corporate events – Shropshire Festivals held its Christmas team outing there for instance. Tilly has also run workshops for SEN (special educational needs) youngsters.
“I’ve personal experience as I have two nephews who are SEN pupils.”
She runs workshops in schools as well as an annual two-day course teaching chocolate-making to Levels 2 and 3 for Shrewsbury Colleges.
“One day is spent at the London Road campus covering science and practical. The second day is at my workshop. I love the science part of it.”
It is no surprise that Tilly has an affinity with children and teenagers – she is a mum of five, with three girls and two boys aged between 7 and 16.
It also means she has had to grapple with a challenging work-life balance, building up a new business while doing the school run, heading to sports days and so on.
After her GCSEs Tilly went Telford College aged 16 to study beauty therapy but a finger injury put paid to that and she switched to hairdressing.
She married six weeks after her 18th birthday. She became an end-of-life care worker, then did an accounting course, as she was interested in balance sheets, becoming a Level 3 Account Technician. It fuelled the ultimate ambition to run her own business. Now the dream has come true.
Tilly is intent on encouraging the next generation of chocolate-makers, taking on 17-year-old Sienna Turner from Broseley as an apprentice.
“I’ve been with Tilly two years, starting with a Saturday job in the café,” says Sienna who is also undertaking a Business Administration course as well as being a part time online music teacher specialising in piano.
Though Tilly’s first marriage ended, she found love again with Matt. A web development manager for a London-based company, he handles the IT side of ChocTilly, enabling the online sales and promotional side of the business.
Tilly’s talent as a maker of luxury, decorated chocolates has won her a second Great Taste Award, this time for her coffee-flavoured creation Mine’s an Espresso.
While it is obviously exciting to earn such respect from industry experts, there is someone closer to home whose praise means even more.
“My Granddad Ray is a great inspiration. His work ethic really inspired me. He’s my biggest fan, he is always showing my business card around,” says Tilly with a broad smile. “He’s very proud.”
