DEVON may traditionally be one of the heartlands of Britain’s dairy industry, but it is now home to one of the country’s most successful dairy free companies, Moo Free Chocolates.

Moo Free established a factory in Holsworthy last year, with its head office being in Reading.

The business was set up in 2010 by husband and wife co-founders, Mike and Andrea Jessop, who weren’t put off by the fact that they had began their new venture in the middle of the UK recession.

Mike told the Post: “Chocolate is a luxury item and isn’t too expensive to buy. It wasn’t like buying a house or car during the recession.”

However, Moo Free faced some difficulties when trying to finance the company, as the banks weren’t lending money to many businesses, and this affected small businesses too.

Nevertheless, the business went on to expand, despite the recession, and became the creators of the world’s first dairy free chocolate Easter egg. The company has since gone on to expand its operations in Devon, and has tripled its production capacity to help it branch out into the American and Chinese markets.

Perhaps one of the company’s most impressive achievements is being awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise, for international trade, having exported its produce to over 30 countries around the world, from Europe to Australia.

Mike said: “Our goal is to become the world leader in dairy free chocolate manufacturing, and our facility in Devon is enabling us to move towards that goal by the sheer level of production we’re now able to achieve.

“We’re running at capacity at our head office in Reading, making half a tonne of chocolate a day. Our new site in Devon is enabling us to make another one and a quarter tonnes a day, which we need to supply new markets in America and China.”

Andrea Jessop was responsible for the creation of Moo Free’s dairy free Easter egg, which was made in 2008. It took Andrea a week to make 80 handmade dairy free eggs.

Mike said: “We make the same eggs today, but now we have the staff and the machinery in Holsworthy to do so. We sell them at quite an expensive price, as so much work goes into making them.”

Due to a lack of staff in Reading, Mike and Andrea Jessop discovered Devon was the perfect choice for the future of Moo Free Chocolates, with the right size and layout, good accessibility, and skilled people with a good knowledge in food production.

Mr and Mrs Jessop now have two premises on the Holsworthy site, and are able to access skilled staff experienced in the food industry.

Moo Free Chocolates is one of more than 30 local businesses that have signed up to the Devon Delivers Ambassadors’ programme, part of Devon County Council’s inward investment programme.

Cllr Andrew Leadbetter of Devon County Council said: “Moo Free is a perfect example of a growing business that has moved to Devon to continue its expansion.

As one of the world leaders in its field, it is exactly the sort of company that we want to attract to Devon, and I’m pleased to see that locating here has helped it build on its success.”

Since starting the business in 2010, Moo Free has gone on to achieve incredible things, and everything has doubled for the team, including costs. Mike expressed his enthusiasm for the year ahead.

“We have lots coming this year. We have Choccy Chums, which will be four animal chocolates in special packaging. We’ll also be re-launching our chocolate drops, which was put on hold for some time due to a fault in machinery. We’re also now able to provide our produce as an ingredient, being used in chocolate cakes, chocolate chip cookies