Page 44 - December 2022

WORK/LIFE

a lot of local customers who have remained Ten years ago, a chocolate shop was the
My 9-to-5 loyal. It’s different online – people don’t have cheapest and easiest way to set up a business
the same approach; they don’t expect the
as I only needed an oven, fridge and table.
owner to reply to them.
The founder of West Lothian-based Sebastian Kobelt Chocolatier shares The best part of my job is…
his daily life and career path. We are flexible with flavours of chocolate in I find it very rewarding when I come up with
our boxes and this sets us apart. We have a new flavour combination or design and
to charge a little more as it is artisan and it evokes a response from customers. I am
handmade, so it costs more to produce and lucky to have a job that allows me to express
people understand this. myself. One Christmas we had a truffle that
had geranium and calamansi (a South East
A typical working day usually involves… Asian citrus fruit) in it. A young boy bought
At this time of year people usually have some for his mum who is from the Philippines
questions about the Christmas range and how and they eat it there. She loved it. Chocolate is
long the shelf life of products are. Customer nostalgic and can take customers back to their
service and personal interaction are very childhood. It gives me a lot of satisfaction to be
important to me. People expect the shop to able to do that.
be a chain but it’s a small business so it’s very
important that if people want to speak to me My most memorable career moment is…
they can. Last year I was very lucky to represent
Germany at the World Chocolate Masters.
I got my job… There are national heats, and the winners
I always see myself as a pastry chef first – I compete in the world final. It was a big
started training in Belgium in Michelin star moment for me because I became a pastry
restaurants. With the online shop it’s chocolate chef as my grandad ran a pastry shop in Berlin.
that sells – we used to sell cakes and patisserie My dad became a vet and my grandfather
in the shop but that doesn’t sell online. We really wanted one of his grandsons to bake.
scaled back on the cake side and now specialise He saw me competing there – if it’s not my
in chocolate. proudest moment it’s his.

Where do you call home? from nursery when I finish at 5.30pm. I have
I grew up in East Germany but I now live in dinner then put the boys to bed, clean the
Dalgety Bay. I love it here because I used to house and then I go to bed at midnight.
work on a cruise ship so wherever I go I need
the coast nearby. My main responsibilities are…
There is always some sort of admin, like
The business is based in Linlithgow and I used processing orders, that come in overnight. The
to live nearby but I have two little boys and the online shop and wholesale side of the business
flat wasn’t big enough anymore. became big after lockdown. I also check social
media – as a small business I want us to be
My day starts with… connected to the customers.
My alarm goes off at 6am and I get the boys
ready then drop them off at nursery. I then go I gave up my shop after the first lockdown. The
to work and check my emails and production lease was up and the overheads were weighing
starts from there onwards. I pick up the kids on me. Since we moved online, we still have

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