'Am so excited about my business again': Northern Ireland chocolatier backed by global technology giant after soaring costs
After struggling with soaring ingredient costs, the Chocolate Manor founder is looking to fresh ideas and technology through a global business-twinning initiative from Lenovo
Castlerock artisan chocolatier Geri Martin features in a new documentary series from global technology giant Lenovo, which explores what happens when entrepreneurs look beyond borders for support.
Geri, who runs Chocolate Manor, a chocolate-making business and shop that also offers courses for people keen to learn the craft, appears in Lenovo’s new series, which follows small business founders from around the world as “unexpected connections and technology spark fresh ideas, new approaches to business challenges and opportunities for growth”.
Geri said: “Everything we make is hand-crafted with love. Our skill and passion reflect the wisdom we have gained at leading chocolate education establishments.
“We love to share that passion for chocolate and run hands-on making workshops for adults and children, chocolate tastings, and educational sessions on the origins of chocolate and our region’s unique connection to this indulgent treat.
“Our premises in Castlerock on Ireland’s north coast have allowed us to make more chocolate and have given us space for our hands-on and unique Visitor Experiences and workshops.”
Chocolate Manor launched its artisan chocolates in 2015. In July 2020, the company transformed the front space of its premises into a Chocolate Shop and Artisan Food Emporium, selling its own products alongside other produce from the Causeway area.
Lenovo’s Backing Every Business documentary series is a global initiative designed “to connect small businesses with the people, technology and support they need to grow and thrive”.
The series features Chocolate Manor and four other businesses from around the world taking part in a business-twinning initiative. Chocolate Manor has been paired with a small business from Mexico.
The programme brings entrepreneurs together through mentorship based on shared growth goals, access to resources including technology and AI training, and funding designed to help address real business challenges and turn new ideas into action.
The four-part series follows entrepreneurs from Japan, Mexico, the UK and the US as they step inside one another’s businesses, experience unfamiliar industries and cultures, and share the knowledge they have gained from building their own companies.
What begins as a meeting between strangers develops into relationships built around common challenges, complementary expertise and the recognition that solutions do not always come from within the same industry or local community.
In episode three, available from Monday, October 19, Geri meets entrepreneurs from Mexico who share her passion for food. She uses cooking to help reconnect them with their roots, while they explore how technology could help her business address a gap in its booking system and create new opportunities for growth.
“When the price of your raw ingredient — the thing you have built your entire business around — goes up by 30% and then another 40% on top of that, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know if we’re actually going to get through this,’ and I did really struggle,” Geri said.
“I’ve learned so much from the other entrepreneurs and am so excited about my business again,” she added.
Emily Ketchen, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer of Lenovo’s Intelligent Devices Group and International Markets, said: “There is no one-size-fits-all path to growing a small business and support has to reflect that.
“What we’ve seen through Backing Every Business is that technology can be incredibly powerful, but so can the knowledge and experience of another entrepreneur who has faced a similar challenge, brings a completely different perspective or simply understands what it takes to build a business.
“By bringing smarter technology, human experience and connection together, we want to give entrepreneurs more ways to find the support they need to solve problems, pursue new opportunities and grow their businesses.”
The experiences of Chocolate Manor and the other businesses reflect the central belief behind Backing Every Business that “a problem shared is a problem halved”, Lenovo said.
“Despite differences in industry, culture and geography, entrepreneurs often face similar challenges, and having access to the right support, perspectives and shared experience can help them see those challenges differently and find new ways forward.”
Lenovo said its twinning programme reflects a broader approach to supporting small businesses, combining its global reach and technology expertise with access to people, perspectives and experiences entrepreneurs might not otherwise encounter.
“Connecting them across those boundaries can help founders see those challenges differently, while technology can help them put new ideas into practice,” the company added.
Lenovo is a global technology company with annual revenue of US$83bn, ranked 153rd in the Fortune Global 500 and serving customers in 180 markets. Its “Smarter Technology for All” vision is supported by a Hybrid AI strategy spanning personal and enterprise AI, alongside a portfolio of devices, infrastructure, software, solutions and services.