Our Story
Bettys Swiss founder Frederick Belmont was a chocolate specialist who brought Swiss luxury and continental chocolate making to Yorkshire.
Over 100 years later, nestled within Bettys Craft Bakery, you’ll find our Chocolate Room and our team of chocolatiers. Four fountains of exquisite Swiss chocolate flow over Florentines, into bowls of rich ganache, into our signature truffles, salted caramels, outrageous Grande Easter eggs and spooky Halloween ghosts. No warm hands, no fingerprints, no mistakes – just calm concentration, decades of knowhow, the highest calibre Swiss chocolate (and pristine white gloves where needed).
The very best quality Swiss Chocolate has always been at he heart of Bettys. ‘Whether it’s a box of truffles or chocolate for a cake, Bettys uses the best-of-the-best Grand Cru Swiss chocolate. Only 3% of the world’s cocoa harvest is good enough for Bettys!’ Lucas Peier, Felchlin Switzerland, world-renowned family owned Swiss chocolate producer and supplier of Bettys Chocolate.
A deep dive into
Swiss chocolate
Deep in the heart of Switzerland is the small town of Schwyz - home to Bettys chocolate suppliers, Felchlin. At Bettys, we only use the finest cocoa bean – the Criollo from the region of Maracaibo in Venezuela, which accounts for just 3% of the world’s cocoa crop. Felchlin source ethically, respecting people and nature, which is why we've built a long-term relationship with them.
Meet our Chocolatiers
Kirsty Mitchison
Favorite product: Salted Caramels
‘My favourite chocolates are our Salted Caramels because of outstanding quality of Bettys dark chocolate. It was one of the things that attracted me to work here.’
Kirsty Mitchison has been a chocolatier at Bettys for 23 years. She is one of the team that makes the perfect ‘snap’ and the smoothest ganache that make our chocolates so addictively special. ‘The first thing we do every day is check the chocolate tempering fountains with a snap test – you pour out a little bit of chocolate, let it set, then break it to see if you get that beautiful cracking sound. Because high quality cocoa is a natural product, you will get tiny variances in how it tempers every day – and only a trained chocolate specialist can spot them. It’s all in the look and feel of the chocolate, which you learn over years of working with it.’
Our Top Three
Our chocolate has always been a wonderful token of our Swissness; not just the continental crafts that shape each beautiful truffle, but the dedication to quality couverture and using rich, creamy Swiss milk.
LADY BETTYS PEPPERMINT CREAMS
With their soft-set fondant and crisp dark chocolate shell – these delicacies were the very height of fashion in 1924 and are still a customer favourite now. The discerning choice for an after-dinner mint.
£22.95
FLORENTINES
A feast of rich caramel toffee, Swiss dark chocolate, almonds, cherries and candied citrus peel – delightfully chewy in the very best way.
£19.25
CHOCOLATE BUTTONS
The haute couture of chocolate buttons, a feast of dark, milk, blonde and white Swiss chocolate.
£9.95
OUR AWARD WINNING COOKERY SCHOOL
The Art of Chocolate
Discover the time-honoured skills used by Bettys chocolatiers and create your own stunning hand-finished chocolates. In this introduction to essential chocolate skills you will learn to temper milk chocolate. With guidance from our expert tutors and using the provided shells made from our Swiss Grand Cru chocolate, you will also practise a range of techniques to fill and flawlessly hand-finish your own creations.
A Perfect Hot Chocolate
INGREDIENTS
200ml of whole milk
5 heaped teaspoons of Bettys Luxury Hot Chocolate
METHOD
Warm the milk to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate and whisk. Reheat to a simmer and whisk again. Serve adding sugar to taste.