Lavolio – Italian Handmade Boutique Confectionery

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WARNING. These beautiful little treats are moreish! The minute you start you won’t want to pick up any other treat! Absolutely stunning. The tins, the designs, the colours, the taste and the delivery. A real Italian treat.

Firstly, let’s discuss the tin. These tasty treats arrive in the most beautiful tin. Now…I think this is the smartest idea EVER. No plastic so environmentally friendly, beautiful enough to use again and again and looks super snazzy if you gift it. I absolutely love them and they are all designed individually (they even have a William Morris design). As someone who is also into fashion, this is amazing. I will be using my tin to store earrings and would love to know how you will use yours!

Right, now onto the goods themselves. Not only are they colourful and handmade (so each has its open misshapen beauty), they are the TASTIEST treat I have ever tasted (apologies for the tongue twister but OMG it is so true). We tested the Nutty Forest tin – smooth assorted chocolate mixed with assorted nuts – we are talking dark chocolate covered almonds, vanilla flavoured pistachios (the cute little yellow ones) and almond amaretto…to name a few! These treats were particularly enjoyed with an espresso or a glass of wine in the evening. In fact, roll them out for every occasion. They are just delicious. I would summarise them as the perfect after dinner treat to impress.

Now I’ve tried these, nothing will ever match up and I will be wanting to taste everything that Lavolio make. Hmmmm….maybe I should get a subscription (OH WAIT…they do that- dangerous!). I think next I want to try the chocolate mini eggs and the hazelnut and chocolate nougat – CAN NOT WAIT!

However my absolute favourite thing about Lavolio is that they do bespoke. Think designer treats for guests of parties, weddings, birthdays. You can add free wrapping to any box and they turn out beautifully, or why not add a personalised note and a personalised ribbon!

Now a few questions for the lovely Lavinia and the Lavolio team:

1. What made you start your own business?

Five years ago I used to work on the trading floor of a large investment bank, the only woman in a team of men! When the banking crisis hit and I had to face redundancy, it really was a blessing in disguise. It helped me to decide that it was time for a change: I knew I wanted to follow my heart and my passion for food.

I enrolled in cookery school and started experimenting with different products. That’s when I came up with the idea for my company: I was experimenting with sweet recipes when I thought of using a traditional Italian panning technique, which uses revolving copper barrels. This creates thin sugar-shells, and they become a natural preservative (a little bit like sugar is used to preserve fruit in jam). It is a very slow manual and artisan process. Every single sweet takes up to five days to make.

Inside these crisp, colourful shells, I placed pieces of fruit, whole nuts, jellies, coffee beans and different types of chocolate. I was then able to create more than 30 gourmet flavours all with different textures, from crunchy to crumbly to soft, and that’s when I thought I was onto something really special. An exciting alternative to a box of chocolates, really unique and very memorable, which led me to launch Lavolio Boutique Confectionery at the end of 2013.

I used to make everything out of my own kitchen table and I started selling my creations at food markets all around London. People had never tried anything like my Lavolios before, and I started selling out.

1. How do you stop yourself from eating all of your stock?!

It’s very difficult! I definitely enjoy indulging in a tin of sweets (or two), especially on bookkeeping days… of course, there is the occasional sweet which is not pretty enough to be packed inside our keepsake tins, and when we find those, they definitely do not go to waste! My favourite collection is Decadent Spiced, my coffee, chocolate and spices collection, which is very warming and indulgent. Every time I have a box I feel like I’m entering a magical place.

1. What do you do to make your business sustainable and friendly to the environment?

The concept of using the metal tins, and the paper wrap inside, still feels like a Eureka moment, coming from someone with very little branding/packaging experience. I knew I wanted to use as little plastic as possible, and in my mini and medium tins, I actually managed to use no plastic at all.

The tins are metal boxes, and as such can be recycled and upcycled when the sweets are gone (and that tends to happen very quickly). I think that our customers appreciate that the tins can be kept and reused as little storage boxes or keepsakes. The packaging design is inspired by fashion and by my favourite Italian designers, such as Missoni, Emilio Pucci, Etro and Moschino. The look and feel are very feminine and elegant, and very personal to me.

When it comes to making my sweets, I chose to work with Italian artisans whose history in confectionery-making dates back centuries. I wanted family-run businesses, who could really understand the importance I put into using traditional manufacturing methods.

Where possible, I use selected Slow Food presidia ingredients, which means they come from the original area of provenance. The Slow Food movement began in Italy, so the Italians know a thing or two about the importance of sourcing good ingredients using sustainable methods, with fair pricing. All of my ranges of luxury confectionery are completely gluten-free. GLUTEN FREE!!! Yes the most important thing is that gluten free people can enjoy these tasty treats!!!

As my partner described them: “Delicate, tasty, high quality and addictive.” We will be stocking up!

If you would like to try these tasty treats or have someone’s birthday coming up soon – be sure to buy using my code of “EXETER”!