Sabrina Lin (林穎) is a woman on a mission to bring the flavors of Taiwan to Britain. Lin, originally from Taichung’s Fengyuan District (豐原), started artisan brand KANMI (甘味巧克力) two years ago as a means of indulging her passion for chocolate.
In Mandarin, the name describes the transition from bitter to sweet, a nod to the complex taste of her creations.
It is a labor of love for Lin, who handmakes all of her chocolates. She also sources her ingredients, many of which come from Taiwan, handles all the marketing and even braves the vagaries of the British weather to sell her products at markets across London.
Photo courtesy of Jane Dai
“I think in the UK, the idea of street food markets is getting more popular and many people who want to enter the food business start off at food markets, just like in Taiwan,” Lin says.
Lin, 31, is married to a Briton and has lived in the UK for six years. She is a trained pastry chef and it was by this route that she learned the art of chocolate making.
“While I was working as a pastry chef, I was driven by curiosity, whereby I loved to learn about different techniques and skills,” Lin says. “By chance I came across a vacancy at a well-known artisan chocolate establishment, which led me to become a chocolatier. It was a rare opportunity to be able to work with chocolate, as now most chocolate products are produced by machines.”
Photo courtesy of Sabrina Lin
“The UK is one of the largest consumers of chocolates in the world, yet there are not many interesting flavor selections in the current chocolate market, which led me to work on this project,” she says, referring to KANMI.
Lin says she could not make chocolates that she would not want to eat herself.
The flavors that appeal to her are those of her childhood and she uses Taiwanese produce whenever possible, including tea, osmanthus and Kavalan whiskey.
Even ingredients she gets from elsewhere, such as lychee, pineapple and guava, are typical of her homeland, she says.
What distinguishes Lin’s chocolates from the competition is the Asian twist and, although they appeal to Britons looking for something different, exotic tastes can work to her disadvantage.
“In terms of flavor profiles [for chocolates], it’s still quite limited [in Britain],” she says. “People here like what they know. I think what I have is quite niche.”
“One of the challenges I’m facing right now in the UK market is that they’re not as accepting of new things here compared with Taiwan,” Lin says. “There, when there is something new, people go crazy for it and queue up for it, but here you really need to work on getting people to try [new flavors].”
Nevertheless, Lin’s business has prospered to the extent that she was recently granted a concession at one of Britain’s most famous department stores, Selfridges.
She sent a sample box of chocolates to Selfridges in September last year hoping that her products might go on sale there before Christmas, but heard nothing until January. The wait was worth it, though.
Lin initially hoped that the store would stock her prepackaged product on its shelves, but was invited to open a full concession stand in Selfridges for two months in the run-up to Easter. The timing was excellent, as this is a peak period for chocolate sales in the UK, incorporating Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
Things went well and she took on three people to help her out at Selfridges. She is currently in negotiations to have her product stocked by the department store long-term.
Lin also sells her chocolates online and has started to attract interest from overseas, with orders from Germany. She has also supplied chocolates for events held by the Taipei Representative Office in London.
“I believe there are plenty of opportunities in the UK for new businesses and ideas,” she says. “For example, I had the chance to work with Selfridges and it’s great that such a large establishment can give an opportunity to a business like KANMI, despite it being a small start-up.”
“I would imagine that in Asia, this would have been difficult,” she adds.
Lin’s talent as a chocolatier was recognized when she won a one-star accolade for her guava-flavored chocolate in last year’s Great Taste & Artisan Food Competition, one of the UK’s most prestigious and well-known food contests.
She was also awarded a bronze medal in last year’s Academy of Chocolate Awards, an international competition specifically for chocolatiers.
Lin will not be resting on her laurels, though.
“This year, I’ve also entered the competition and the results will be out just before September,” she says. “I will probably participate in some trade shows, especially for chocolate, and I’ll continue to introduce new products and flavors and see how it goes.”
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