Whilst it’s probably right to remain modest when we receive lovely letters or kind editorial coverage about our wicked goodies, we find the opportunity to share our good news simply too tempting to resist.
We hope that these kind, impartial thoughts from everyday consumers and informed foodie experts alike will convince you to cold-shoulder your conscience and visit either our online shop or your nearest Wicked stockist at the earliest opportunity.
Cumbria Life - April 2010
The following entry appeared in Cumbria Life April 2010
If Gill Houston hadn’t been delayed at an airport on her way home from a skiing holiday, The Wicked Fruit Company wouldn’t have been formed. To help kill the time while waiting, Gill asked her husband, Julius Deane, if he’d find a sweet treat to use up the last of the Euros.
‘He came back with these crystallised oranges dipped in dark chocolate which I’d never seen before and absolutely adored,’ says Gill. ‘I started making some myself just for me, then I started giving a few to friends and it just went from there.’
Gill now makes her own chocolate-dipped crystallised fruit, using oranges, lemons and ginger plus a couple she’s dubbed ‘very wicked’, which are apricots soaked in brandy and prunes immersed in Armagnac. She’s also moved on to other chocolate treats and her creations have won her five Great Taste Awards.
Great British Food - December 2009
Simply Wicked
The Following entry appeared in the article ‘Grown-ups Only!’ in Great British Food issue Dec 2009
If you like a fruity edge to your decadent chocs, look no further than Wicked Oranges. These rich treats are the creation of The Wicked Fruit Company; founder Gill Houston discovered the concept on holiday and, once back in their own kitchen, began making chocolate-covered orange slices for friends and family. Seven years on these bitter-sweet treats, which deliver both crunch and chew, are the perfect seasonal gift.
RRP £5.00 per 100g.
Café Culture - August 2009
Wicked Woodland sees Red!
The Following entry appeared in Café Culture August 2009
With the Wicked Fruit operation now settled in its idyllic Carlisle-based vicarage, founder Gill Houston says that she is turning her attention to extending a helping hand to some of her endangered red squirrel neighbours, who she and her small team of award-winning crystallised fruit and fine chocolate specialist often catch a glimpse of as they race around the adjoining woods.
Teaming up with PTES (The People’s Trust for Endangered Species), Gill has created a Wicked Woodland chocolate bar featuring blueberries, hazelnuts and pine kernels, jumbled and mingled with milk chocolate to create a tempting impulse buy for coffee shop customers (the recommended selling proce is between £4.50 and £5.25 a bar).
Great Britain’s red squirrels are being attacked on all sides by squirrel pox virus, shrinking forests as well as their aggressive grey-haired cousin, resulting in red squirrels being pushed to the very edge of extinction. It is estimated that there are only in the region of 140,000 of our home-grown red squirrels left in the wild, so it is hoped that the 15p raised from each Wicked Woodland Bar sale will help PTES raise the profile of their Red Squirrel SOS.
Boughtons Coffee House - July 2009
Snacks and bites - the best new ideas for the coffee-house trade
An unusual chocolate bar with a high selling price of £4.50 has a conservation aim- the profits help to protect the red squirrel population from the encroaching greys, which are taking over the UK.
The bar is creamy chocolate with 33 per cent cocoa and 21 per cent milk solids, decorated with hazelnuts, pine kernels and juicy blueberries – all of which are part of the diet of the squirrel. It features an extremely unusual clear wrap, which the company’s Gill Houston says make an effective display feature. The price, she says, reflects the fact that the bar is indeed to be a treat or a gift item.
'Our coffee-house clients use the 5gm bite-size chocs when serving drinks, and this prompts purchases of the larger bar. The bars offer a 50 percent margin, and our 'I’ve been Wicked!' carrier bags tend to be hugely popular!'
Her Coffee Chocs, made with crushed coffee beans, are marketed as an alternative to after-dinner mints, and sell at around £4.00, giving a 45 percent margin. There is also a bean bar, and Gill Houston is one of the few supplier we know who is willing to discuss the right kind of coffee bean to be covered in chocolate… it should, she says be a dark roast, ideally of earthy and bold characteristic, married with a bitter-sweet chocolate.
Marketing - June 2009
The Following entry appeared in News Branding in Marketing, 10 June 2009
The Wicked Fruit Company confectionery brand has launched a fruit, nut and chocolate Wicked Woodland bar. For each one sold, the company has pledged to donate 15p to the People’s Trust for Endangered Species to help protect the red squirrel.
OOH - May 2009
Help save our red squirrels
The Following entry appeared in the article ‘What’s New?’ in OOH issue May 2009
Wicked Fruit has teamed up with PTES (The People’s Trust for Endangered Species) to create a new Wicked Woodland chocolate bar where blueberries, hazelnuts and pine kernels have been mingled with premium milk chocolate to create a ‘beautifully bumpy lumpy’ chocolate impulse bar to help Britain’s native Red Squirrel.
With the latest estimates suggesting that there are now approximately only 140,000 of our home grown squirrels (versus 3m marauding grey squirrels) left in the wild it’s hoped that the invaluable 15p from each Wicked Woodland Bar sale will help PTES significantly raise the profile of their Red Squirrel SOS (Save Our Squirrels).
Fine Food Digest - April 2009
So bad they’re good?
The following entry appeared in the article 'shelf-talk'
Wicked Fruit has extended its crystallised fruit and choc collection with the arrival of apricots and prunes to sit alongside the original orange and lemon varieties.
The company is happy to corrupt all manner of fruits, either by crystallising, sweet drying, juicing or drowning in Armagnac and says there are so many ways to prepare even the best intentioned fruit for a dangerous liaison with top-notch chocolate.
The company only supplies independent stockists and for the more past supplies 120g bars and 100g bags.
OOH - March 2009
Fruit shows its naughty side
The following entry appeared in the article ‘What’s New?’
Have you noticed how difficult it is for fruit to foster anything other than a goodie two-shoes image in these increasingly health conscious, 5-a-day times?
Well, hidden away in an old vicarage in Carlisle, the award-winning Wicked Fruit Company is a growing sweet treat concern that is creating a good name for itself ‘corrupting’ all manner of fruit. Take, for example, the latest additions to the range – crystallised apricots and prunes dipped in chocolate – which now sit alongside the original orange and lemon offerings, in 100g bags.
Speciality Food - March 2009
Fruit Finds its Wicked Side
From the article ‘Sweet Talk’
Combining two favourites, chocolate and fruit, The Wicked Fruit Company has now extended its range, proving that there is still room for innovation, despite the credit crunch.
Wicked Fruit has introduced its new crystallised fruit and chocolate collection. Founder, Gill Houston, says that for small companies innovation is the key to survival. ‘Consumers of our chocolate would probably say they just want more nice chocolate – but it is up to us to innovate and find new combinations and presentations’. She adds ‘Our lavender chocs were originally created following a call from a leading lavender farm who was looking to raise its profile whilst our award-winning Hot Chilli Chocs and Wicked Bean Bar both come from collaborations with a well-known hamper company and coffee manufacturer. At this very moment we are working with a conserve manufacturer to produce truffles flavoured with their jams and marmalades.’
Speciality Food - February 2009
Essential Products 2009 - Fruit Fancy
Glum, disheartening words like recession and credit crunch are never easy to swallow in these tough, ‘tighten the belt’ times, but The Wicked Fruit Company has the answer with its gourmet chocs.
Searching for the chocolate-covered lining in every grey cloud, the Wicked Fruit Company says it’s time to remind ourselves that there’s nothing like award-winning, hand-made chocs to cheer up your customers when they’re feeling a little down in the dumps. When the (chocolate) chips are down people need real comfort, not false hope, which is why it steers clear of any artificial flavours or preservatives, opting instead for the best, most indulgent ingredients imaginable.
The Wicked Fruit Company produces a caring collaboration of top-notch chocs and flavoursome ‘feel-good fruit’ meaning that there are two tantalising reasons for you and your customers to share an impeccable sense of great taste with those that matter most.
Great British Food - September 2008
The Sweet Tooth
We all like to indulge once in a while and sweets and chocolates are generally top of the list. We’ve selected five great companies making decadent threats that are sure to get your tastebuds tingling.
Best for Flavours
Do you love your choccies with a twist? The Wicked Fruit Company combines the flavours of delicious fruit with the naughtiness of chocolate to create great tasting treats without artificial preservatives or flavourings. The range includes fruit-decorated chocolate bars, alcohol-soaked apricots and prunes coated in chocolate; chilli or lavender flavoured discs; fresh cream truffles with seasonal fruit flavours and many more delicious specialities such as crystallised oranges and lemons dipped in chocolate.
All The Wicked Fruit Company’s products can be purchased via mail order. You can also find them in delis, farm shops and specialist food retailers.
BBC Good Food Magazine - September 2007
Wicked Fruit Company profiled in the BBC's Good Food Magazine
Gill Houston, who founded the Wicked Fruit Company in 2002, creates very adult treats by crystallising oranges, lemons, pineapple and ginger, then dipping then in a very dark and delicious chocolate. She also makes milk, white and dark chocolate bars crammed with crystallized apples & pears, summer berries, and oranges & lemons, as well as a range of Seasonal Treats. These are truffles with a ganache flavoured with fruits of the season – look out for juniper berry & blackcurrant in the autumn.