If you have a penchant for chocolate then you’ll surely have heard of Temper Temper – a little sweet spot of a chocolate business – located near Southborough Common on Church Road.
It offers everything from confectionery masterclasses where you can learn how to temper chocolate, to fun children’s parties where kids can roll up their sleeves and get messy while mixing up all sorts of sweet treats to create from chocolate footballs to Florentines and giant lollipops, using only the finest Belgian chocolate.
Temper Temper’s owner Alison Hazell and her talented team have been at the helm since 2013 after Alison bought the business from its founder in 2007.
“It was originally owned by a lady called Jackie, who also had the Bean café,” explains Alison. “She started Temper Temper above Bean and then moved it out to the industrial estate due to lack of space, but the traffic was a disaster, so then she moved it to its current location in Southborough.”
After a couple of years, Jackie became sated by all things chocolate and decided to go travelling and so sold the business to Alison. “Initially, I ran things along the same lines, but I soon realised the majority of people had never heard of Temper Temper!”
Alison and her small team decided to do something about that and so started approaching local schools, offering them vouchers for fairs and supplying chocolate bars as table favours. The plan worked and soon the word about Temper Temper being a fun place to learn the art of chocolate making got round.
Alison, who is a mother of six, now runs a wide-ranging variety of classes, events and workshops where visitors can learn everything from how to create chocolate animals to perfecting the art of tricky tempering – impressive given that she doesn’t have a background in cooking – or chocolate.
“I’ve always worked with people, both adults and children,” continues Alison. “As a mother of six I’ve always had loads of kids around me! At 19, I started Tots Paradise, a day care centre in Sevenoaks and then moved to South Africa where I worked training staff on how to use specialist equipment. So food was a whole new world for me!”
Alison says she was interested in buying the Temper Temper business initially because she thought it was a great ‘weekend’ business: “It meant my husband could look after our children on the weekends I was working. Six years on, Temper Temper is now a seven day a week operation and I’m very fortunate to have my eldest child working with me full-time now as well as my youngest daughter – on a part-time basis!”
There are now two full-time staff on board as well as three part-timers and Alison says there are plans to take on another full-time staff member later this spring.
“Our children’s parties are still by far the most popular and the core of the business but last year saw a real rise in other workshops too. Our adult events such as hen parties, ‘choctails’ and corporate team building sessions have definitely increased and last Christmas, we were definitely on the map for company Christmas parties!”
In terms of what Alison hopes to do in terms of expanding the business further she says she has a few key aims: “One is to have another couple of kitchens, and then we will look at franchising Temper Temper. We are also hoping to expand into an actual school – and not just for all things chocolate. Chocolate will still be our core business, but we have plans to run cooking, baking and sugar craft lessons from our kitchen; with specialists in their field coming to teach.”
The Temper Temper brand is certainly expanding already as you can now buy its products in various independent outlets including Groombridge Farm Shop, Hollie’s Little Cakery on The Pantiles, Haywards of Hadlow and Flint & Oak in Westerham. Alison says she’s also in talks with the South African shop in Tonbridge about making a special indigenous chocolate for them and their customers.
But for now Alison says as long as she is achieving one goal she is happy: “My greatest wish is that our guests leave with our delicious chocolate after having spent an enjoyable morning, afternoon or evening with us.” And if like me you’ve had the opportunity to lose yourself in Temper Temper for a few hours of chocolate bliss, Alison and her team have certainly achieved that.
Timings and prices all vary so check www.tempertemperchocolate.co.uk
A taste of Temper Temper
There are a number of workshops run by Temper Temper including the following:
Private parties
Open workshops (where a single person or a couple of friends could come along
Three-hour truffle and bar workshops (where you learn to temper chocolate)
Corporate team building workshops (two and three hours
‘Choctails’ evenings where you’re treated to chocolate and cocktails
Educational school visits
