From 7th February to 7th March 2025, ethical Cornish chocolate company Rio Nuevo is taking over Cornish Bakery in Truro, offering a rich chocolate-filled month of experiences. Additionally, on Valentine’s Day from 6pm – 8pm, the two Cornish companies will host a special wine and chocolate evening at the bakery for couples to indulge whilst finding out more about the two companies, their backstories and products.
Throughout the month-long takeover, Cornish Bakery, located on Truro’s Boscawen Street is adorned with co-branded window vinyls visible from the high street and the knowledgeable Rio Nuevo team will offer regular complimentary sample tastings. Visitors to the bakery have the opportunity to try the indulgent 60% drinking chocolate with its notes of caramel, raisins, and rose, the semi-sweet, smooth raspberry chocolate bar, and the citrusy delights of the Rio Nuevo chocolate orange bar – all of which are proudly vegan.
The Rio Nuevo chocolate bars are already available in Cornish Bakery’s 66 bakeries across the country as well as from the website and during the ‘month of love’ takeover, the Rio Nuevo hot chocolate will be available to buy exclusively in Truro’s Cornish Bakery. The complex fruity and floral flavours of this drinking chocolate are unique to the Arriba Nacional cacao variety, the oldest and rarest cacao variety in the world, exclusive to Ecuador and considered to be among the world’s finest. Following the trial in Truro, the hope is to roll this drinking chocolate out nationwide across all of the bakeries.
The romantic Valentine’s evening event will celebrate the art of pairing wine with desserts made using Rio Nuevo chocolate, featuring two exclusive treats, handcrafted on-site by a specialist guest chocolatier, served alongside thoughtfully curated wine pairings. Founder of Rio Nuevo, Sara Castañeda will be there on the evening to provide some compelling storytelling, outlining the brand’s inspiring journey from bean to bakery and future plans.
Rio Nuevo is an independent chocolate company based in Cornwall, dedicated to sourcing and producing the finest chocolate available on the market, while also addressing the inequalities that exist within the chocolate industry. With close ties to rural cacao farming communities across Ecuador’s Amazon Rainforest and Cloud Forest, the team are fully committed to developing and promoting a model of chocolate-making that lifts cacao growers and their communities out of poverty.
Committed to doing things differently, Cornish Bakery, the independent, founder-driven company first started in Mevagissey, Cornwall, now has some 66 bakeries across the country. Each offers an impressive premium range of daily crafted, freshly-baked pastries, sausage rolls, scones, viennoiseries and cakes, pasties, beyond Fairtrade Union Coffee alongside recently introduced runaway success options such as its twice-based pistachio croissant and shakshuka croissant. The company proudly sources a large majority of its ingredients and products from producers, growers and suppliers from across Cornwall and the south west including Rio Nuevo.
Cornish Bakery’s managing director, Mat Finch said: “We are delighted to partner with Rio Nuevo in this way. We see an opportunity to develop closer partnerships with our suppliers who share our values, have interesting stories to tell and produce beautiful products. This is the first time we have combined our mutual passion to create a takeover of this kind and Rio Nuevo is the perfect fit. Their chocolate is a high-quality, premium product that we are incredibly proud to sell in all 66 of our bakeries and they also have a knowledgeable, well trained and passionate team who are brimming with interesting facts and stories.”
Sara Castañeda of Rio Nuevo said: “We’re very excited to join our partner, Cornish Bakery at their Truro location this February and March. This month-long event is a wonderful opportunity to connect with customers and share our passion for craft chocolate. We’re excited to talk about what makes chocolate so special, offer tasting samples, and to engage in meaningful conversations. We can’t wait to meet everyone who stops by and bring a little more chocolate joy to the heart of Truro.”
Rio Nuevo’s month-long presence at Cornish Bakery, Truro will allow visitors to experience the richness of Cornish talent and collaboration firsthand. The Valentine’s chocolate and wine pairing evening is an intimate and delicious experience for couples and chocolate aficionados alike. It includes two desserts, made on-site by an artisan chocolatier and expert wine pairings. Tickets can be purchased online from: Rio Nuevo x Cornish Bakery Chocolate & Wine Evening Tickets, Fri 14 Feb 2025 at 18:00 | Eventbrite.
To find out more about Cornish Bakery, its locations and products, please visit: www.thecornishbakery.com. For more information on Rio Nuevo, please visit: www.rionuevochocolate.com.
