Behind the Scenes with: Land Chocolate

Phil Landers had been enjoying a successful radio career with the BBC when a trip to Central America brought his lifelong love of chocolate back into focus. While a dramatic career change raised a few eyebrows, once Phil found himself making chocolate in his kitchen, he knew there was no turning back.

We caught up with the chocolate maker and self-confessed ‘sugar-hound’ to talk about sourcing and crafting speciality chocolate, and why he’s never made a chocolate Easter egg.

Speaking with Phil, it’s impossible not to get caught up his enthusiasm over chocolate, though he’s quick to admit that he’s always ready to temper expectations when people – not just children – come to visit him at his workshop in London. “There are a few who are perhaps a little disappointed to discover I’m under an archway in Bethnal Green,” he said. “There’s no chocolate waterfall in sight, but there is a chocolate tap, which always pleases those who have seen any of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory films!”

Phil’s enthusiasm for chocolate stems from childhood, not unironically, while his parents ran a health food shop. “As a boy, I was too young to properly appreciate the difference in chocolate—I simply remember the joy of going into the corner store to buy a chocolate bar: Snickers is still my guilty pleasure.” While introduced to the idea of a more sustainable choice though his parents store – which was one of the first places to stock Green & Black’s chocolate – it wasn’t until he went travelling that his palate and mind was introduced to a whole different route for chocolate.

Phil headed off with no real plan, choosing Central America on a whim. “Looking back, I was in a bit of a rut, and looking for some happiness. I met a couple of Australian girls while staying in a hostel in Guatemala, and they were great at signing up for absolutely anything: they convinced me to join them on a ‘Make your Own Chocolate Day’—how could I refuse?” he said. While Phil described the day as being “very touristy”, the experience had a lasting impact. “It was so eye-opening and interesting, visiting a cocoa farm and learning about the natural product. I’m pretty sure I just sprinkled some nuts on top of the chocolate, but I realised I hadn’t felt that excited since first getting into radio.” Taking away some cocoa beans and the chocolate he made that day (even if they were taken off him as he crossed the border), Phil returned to London with thoughts of chocolate firmly planted in his mind. Soon after he met up with an old friend who also worked at the BBC. “It was my birthday, and she’d bought me some chocolate from Paul A. Young. She was after some travel advice, and I was fresh back from my travels, meant to be returning to the BBC—and then she told me she’d seen a position for a sales assistant in the shop and I wondered if it was a sign,” Phil said.

Those farm trips clearly shaped Phil’s vision for the type of chocolate he wanted to source; how he wanted to work and support those farmers. “When I started, I thought about what I believe is the right way to do things—considering what chocolate can be; what it needs to be; looking for the best, but also fair—even beyond Fairtrade, which still isn’t good enough. There’s more to chocolate than people realise, but I don’t want to force the message down people’s throats. I want to show there’s a different way, through my chocolate. “

People are always excited when they learn I’m a chocolate maker—they want to talk to me at dinner parties and I probably ruin the mood!” he said. “Chocolate makes people smile—they don’t want to hear bad things about it!”

Despite treading lightly in conversations, Phil fervently believes that there is still a way for those conversations to take place, led through actions before words. “Chocolate is arguably one of the most popular food items in the world, with demand still going up, adding pressure to farmers while facing issues of climate change and deforestation, and yet the industry is still shrouded in mystery, and the public aren’t really told much about chocolate, where it comes from, how it’s harvested, how it’s made,” he explained. “Chocolate production was built on a colonial model, and it’s very broken. At those dinner parties, I want to talk about chocolate in the same way we talk about wine and coffee—showing it the respect it deserves. Some people question that £6 for the price of a bar of chocolate, but normally, by the end of the conversation, they can see that is makes sense.”

When it comes to exploration, Phil’s not looking to necessarily fall in line with the usual expectations of chocolate around holidays such as Easter. “I’ve never done a specific product,” he admits. “I’m not entirely against it but I see chocolate differently; it can be an everyday pleasure, rather than something just for certain occasions. I don’t want to lose the fun in chocolate—and no one’s complained that I’ve not made an Easter egg!”

Phil’s fascination with experimentation, bolstered by his confidence as a chocolate maker and chocolatier means he’s viewing seasonal occasions in terms of flavour. “I’ve been thinking of spring flavours, those that are savoury and unusual, spring notes like rosemary and orange,” he said.

Phil’s enthusiasm for chocolate shows no signs of slowing down, and while he’s not sure his dad is still entirely convinced by his career change to chocolate, he’s looking to the future more than ever, with a four-month-old son now in the picture.

“My girlfriend is more sensible than me, but I can’t wait for our little boy to have his first chocolate experience—I think his sweet tooth will be inevitable!

“There are challenges, of course, of running a small business, but no two days are ever the same: I can be test roasting one day or moulding and wrapping 400 bars the next; it’s a very fun place to be. I mainly try to avoid eating it all: there’s still that child within me, trying to eat all the chocolate.”

Pair your speciality coffee with a speciality chocolate bar: shop Phil’s exceptional Land chocolate range here.