AMELIA ROPE: FOOD CONSULTANT
AWARD WINNING CHOCOLATE ENTREPRENEUR
I’ve always adored food; cooking it, discovering it, learning about the cultures behind it and of course, eating it. My weak spot as you may well know or about to find out is chocolate.
After competing on BBC MasterChef in 2006 and asked back to compete again in 2007 I took a leap of faith and moved from the world of health into the world of chocolate. Amelia Rope Chocolate, my luxury chocolate brand, sprung into my life and was to be one of the most exhilarating, heart racing chapters in my life.
This leap of faith was from an unbelievable response by the media. The product which created the ‘it factor’ was a chocolate creation I had seen in my mind and which took me 3 months to develop. It was a crystallised rose petal dipped in chocolate and decorated with gold leaf.
This product saw me delivering to overseas royalty and the odd heart throb celebrity too. This product thought was not the product to market but it propelled me onto to to a bespoke commission for sofa.com to create a chocolate bar. These bars took me on to build my business and to win awards as an entrepreneur, a brand and for my chocolate creations. I travelled to meet cacao farmers in Brazil, Colombia, Mauritius and Thailand, grabbed the attention of the media, TV and radio and among other things was a small business ambassador for the GREAT campaign.
It was a one-woman show. Not from choice, just how it panned out. It began in my kitchen and took me to supply prestigious stockists such as Fortnum & Mason, Harrods, Liberty, Selfridges (where I launched) as well as Wholefoods and small independents. I got to work with renowned corporate clients including Berry Bros & Rudd, Eurostar and the Firmdale Hotel Group and had TV approaches from Saturday Kitchen and The Apprentice. As the brand grew I exported to the EU, India, Japan and the Middle East.
It was tough. It was challenging. It was mind-blowing. It showed me what I really had hidden away inside of me and forced me to dig deeper than ever before.
I discovered determination, focus, grit, resilience, perseverance and the hardest work you can ever imagine. I learnt. Every day I learnt. It was my degree in creating, running and growing a small business.
Beyond food I created a lockdown podcast, Hope & Patience, where I chatted with inspirational entrepreneurs including the pioneers; Julian Metcalfe, Pret a Manger and Itsu and Tim Mead, Yeo Valley to discover more about the entrepreneurial mindset and what makes people tick.
Most recently I’ve just been on the Harvard Business School CORe programme for a serious bootcamp in accounting, analytics, and economics. 20 exams in 3 months which has engrained incredible learnings to share with you.
Today, I'm excited by exploring the ever-evolving vibrant world of food and helping individuals and businesses tap their true inner glittering potential.
Nourish. Thrive. Shine.