We already have our distinctive local take on craft beer, coffee roasting and neighbourhood bakeries firmly established.

Lara Messer thinks she has spotted the next big trend for the city and that’s why she is setting up the new home for Bare Bones Chocolate on Osborne Street.

The story so far: Lara, originally from Netherlee, was working as a food photographer in London “visiting all these incredible small businesses” and was inspired to consider setting up her own business.

“I started to look into the process of making chocolate and got so involved in the idea, reading everything I could on the subject.

“I realised it was quite scientific which seemed perfect as my boyfriend Cameron, now my business partner, is an engineer” she says.

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Glasgow Times:

Lara decided to emulate some of the bean to bar handcrafted chocolate businesses that she had researched in other cities.

“I had a bad day at work, got off the train, went home and said to Cameron that I had an idea for us. He was really enthusiastic. We started making some batches at home and all our friends liked it, so we decided to build the business.”

They launched in 2018 and as Lara’s dad was a coffee roaster they moved home to the South Side and started local: “The American chocolate makers were all using coffee roasters you see, because you get a lot of control over the temperature and the process, so we began making the bars using my dad’s roaster, then selling products online and gaining wholesale clients.”

The business has grown significantly in the last year Lara says: “Lockdown actually turned out okay for us. We were able to work and keep going. People wanted something special to brighten their day and chocolate is an inexpensive pick-me-up so we had lots of orders coming in.”

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The new home for Bare Bones will be ready in the next three weeks. “We have two railway arches and are building our space. Chocolate making is a really long process so to have everything under one roof is going to be amazing. We’ve taken delivery of our new coffee roaster and we have hired staff which is exciting.”

“We will have a shop at our new location and it will be nice to meet people face-to-face again. I’d love if it got to the point where we are known for our chocolate in Glasgow, we’re working with so many amazing local stockists at the moment and people are so supportive.

“It’s probably the most supportive city to have a small business. We want to make this our flagship location for our brand and have somewhere people can tour and find out more about what we do.”

Some of the places you can find Bare Bones Chocolate: 287 Bakery use their chocolate in their bakes, The Gannet has been using it in their desserts. Kember and Jones, Hoos, Grain and Grind, Short Long Black and Locavore stock their bars. Sprigg, Perch and Rest, Morning Glory and Us v Them are among the local cafes serving their hot chocolate.

For more information, visit bareboneschocolate.co.uk