Created by former investment banker, Lavinia Davolio in London three years ago, the company sells luxury sweets and chocolate using traditional artisan techniques.
Designer tin boxes
The sweets are created slowly, up to five days, and sold in designer tin boxes with 30 natural flavors created with nuts, real fruit, chocolate and spices.
Founder Davolio, told ConfectioneryNews, her vision is to put the ‘love back into confectionery’.
“The most difficult stage is at the beginning, trying to create a clear idea in your mind in terms of what you want to do. But once you have that focus, it is about applying that passion and applying that energy to a strategic process of managing people and projects,” she said.
“Growing up in a gastronomic Italian family and spending most of my childhood experimenting in the kitchen and cooking with my grandmothers, means I always had a passion for food. Throughout my nine year career in investment banking I never lost my appetite for culinary creation.
“Being patient and remaining realistic is important. After the official launch party, it took a couple of months to fulfill the first client’s orders and to have the finished product available on the shelves. In the first few months there really wasn’t any structure and pretty much everything was done from the kitchen table.”
Davolio added, compared with 2016, revenues are growing 60% as more people taste the products and recommend them to their friends. The company does not have a budget for advertising and uses social media as its marketing tool for Valentine's Day and other special occasions.
Fortnum & Mason and Amazon Marketplace
The chocolates are now stocked with about 40 suppliers, including Ocado, Fortnum & Mason and Amazon Marketplace after going live on Amazon Launchpad and can be purchased on Amazon Prime.
Davolio now wants to expand into the catering and hotel industry and open a Lavolio Boutique in London.
“Our confectionery has even been enjoyed within the walls of No.10 Downing Street when a group of entrepreneurs were invited to promote their small businesses as featured on Sky News,” she added.
“I believe we have an innovative product, and there is nothing directly comparable on the shelves. The sweets take up to five days to produce and they are packaged in luxury tin boxes. Because they are made using non-conventional processes we have to convey that story and communicate this to our customers. The carefully designed packaging illustrates that there is a remarkable experience inside.”
Davolio said staying relevant and ahead of the game is always challenging, but the team at Lavolio are passionate about the product.
“We are always responding to trends in the market such as demand for bespoke, personalized and subscription only purchases,” she added.
“Lavolio helps the consumer to reconnect with themselves through emphasizing the time, thought and passion that the product is built upon.
“We aim to put the love back into confectionery and make sure this is directly experienced by the consumer. We often spend so much time running around ‘doing’ things, my products encourage customers to slow down and consciously enjoy the state of being.”