"I met Nicola Rowledge during a chocolate tasting I held back in October 2011.
Nicola being a true chocolate passionate fan decided to book me for a private session for the Directors of the company she works for as head of HR and subsequently to use my expertise for a team building event she has organised for Charterhouse Voice and Data’s as their bi-annual company meting.
The core event purpose is a interesting, alternative team building session based on lateral thinking.
Nicola strategically has placed a ‘chocolate exercise’ as an afternoon activity to have individuals to approach differently ‘team thinking’.
Nicola has sent me a month or so ago the core values of the company and my task was to create a flavored chocolate that spoke loudly of company values.
Charterhouse Voice and Data PLC (CVD) is one of the UK's leading providers of converged information and communications technology (ICT) and Managed Document Services Solutions (http://www.cvd.plc.uk/) and the company values are a sincere statement towards staff and clients:
Excellence in converged voice and data solutions; creating strong strategic partnerships and delivering a great client experience from a stimulating working environment.
CVD Values
Commitment
ROSEMARY
We are committed to each other to do what we say we will
We are committed to simplifying our customers’ working lives through our solutions
Excellence
ROSE
We strive for the best in all we do and always aim to improve on how we have performed in the past
We look for recognition from our customers and in the industry
Passion
PINK PEPPERCORN
We love what we do
Teamwork
ORANGE BLOSSOM
We trust and help each other to play our part
We understand how we are all critical to delivering our vision
Respect
CHERRY
We value and seek to understand the differences between us so we can work well together
We treat each other fairly, kindly and professionally
Responsibility
LEMON AND MINT
When we take something on we see it through to the end
When we make a mistake we hold our hands up- we communicate to understand not to blame
The company values are sincere, immediate and most of all shareable: like chocolate!
My first thought went to create something that was approachable, clear and that gave the team something to think about.
Hence I turned the values int an edible experience that could be shared by the whole team and discussed upon:
A chocolate vision
Excellence in converged values and flavours to create a strong partnership and delivering a great experience to be shared in a great work environment
CVD Values
Commitment
ROSEMARY
Rosemary is a hardy bushy perennial shrub; aromatic evergreen; astringent, tonic, restorative. Resilient and steady at high temperatures it speaks clearly of commitment.
Excellence
ROSE
Rose comes from the Greek 'roden' meaning 'red', as the ancient rose was bright crimson. It takes about 60,000 roses to make one ounce of rose otto - or to put in a different way 40,000 kilograms to make 1 liter of rose otto. Quintessentially delicate its after taste, though lingers for long time as pure excellence does in human beings’ souls.
Passion
PINK PEPPERCORN
The Inca used the sweet outer part of ripe fruit to make a drink. Berries were rubbed carefully to avoid mixing with the bitter inner parts, the mix strained and then left for a few days to produce a drink.Strong, stimulant but warm and persistent this spice does not have the aggressivity of chillies but has the power of true passion.
Teamwork
ORANGE BLOSSOM
The blossoms of the bitter orange tree produce an oil called Neroli (Citrus aurantium var. amara or Bigaradia). They are hand picked in April and distilled in water (blossoms are too fragile to endure steam distillation). Strongly binding fragrance neroli is widely used in perfumery and it is the key ingredient of about one perfume out of ten. Nicola’s favourite hence for a key element for team building and binding!
Respect
CHERRY
Botanically, the fruit is a “drupe” (stone fruit), belonging to the broad rosaceae family.Some of common “drupe” family fruits are plums, peaches, apricots. Its name comes originally from the Greek, and in Latin means of or for the birds, due to the birds' obvious love of the fruit. The tree was beloved by the Egyptians, Greeks and Romans both for its beautiful flowers and its versatile fruit. Why cherries to explain respect?
We have a saying in Italian that goes something like: it take a deep love and respect not to finish someone’s bowl of cherries…!
Responsibility
LEMON AND MINT
Resilient strong persistent intense flavours. Mint is one of the most ‘migratory’ flavours hence for most of the time is isolated from other chocolates. In this little concoction lemon is meant to take the ‘responsibility’ to incapsulate the mint volatile molecules to originate a fresh combination that last for as long as possible.
To work on such an interesting was a wonderful flavour challenge and my next step should truly be to identify the real flavour of...challenge!
