CHOCOLATE is very scientific, says Lara Messer, co-founder of Glasgow-based craft chocolate maker Bare Bones Chocolate.

So when the idea to launch a chocolate business came to her after a bad day at work, it was a stroke of luck that her partner, Cameron Dixon, was an engineer.

“I thought – why not combine our skills?” Ms Messer explained on the Go Radio Business Show with Hunter & Haughey.

The couple launched Bare Bones Chocolate from a garage in 2018, and now have big growth plans.

“I think we would like to be big in the craft chocolate movement, but maybe not in the confectionary aisles of supermarkets,” said Ms Messer, who was working as a food photographer and chef when she decided to launch into completely new territory as an artisan chocolate maker.

Bare Bones specialises in ‘bean to bar’ chocolate, which means the chocolate is handcrafted from a raw cacao bean to a finished bar, as opposed to being made from melted, mass-manufactured chocolate.

Mr Dixon previously worked as design engineer at Jaguar Land Rover and has always been into making things.

“Ten years ago, I used to build bicycles,” he said. “I’d take a vintage frame, then add all new parts and refurbish it. It was called Boneyard Bikes. And that’s kind of how the Bare Bones name came about.”

The business grew about five-fold last year, and was expecting about three-fold growth this year, he added.

“That rate really works for us,” Mr Dixon said. “At first we started just selling chocolate bars. Now we’re supplying some restaurants and bakeries with good chocolate for baking and cooking, but also hot chocolate.”

The company is now moving into speciality hot chocolate.

“Some speciality coffee shops offer three different coffees, like Kenyan coffee and an Ethiopian coffee, along with taste notes,” Mr Dixon explained. “That’s what we’re now doing with hot chocolate.”