About Us
Welcome to Annie’s! Our vegan chocolate business is set in Horncastle in the heart of the Lincolnshire Wolds.
When I set out to find something that my vegan friend Sophie could enjoy whilst the rest of us were sat around eating cake, I never expected that several years later, it would be the first in an ever growing portfolio of chocolatey things that were vegan friendly.
Back then, the vegan community wasn’t anywhere near as big as it is now, but with more and more people turning their backs on eating animals – and their produce – veganism is a movement gathering pace. During my research, I found that items labelled as ‘vegan-friendly’ came at a price that often meant they were unaffordable for frequent consumption, and so I set about offering vegan chocolate that would change that.
I wanted to give the vegan – and the dairy-free – community something that tasted better than the mass produced ‘industrial’ vegan chocolate; something that tasted like a luxury but that was priced for every day eating. Thanks to Sophie, the Chocolate Bomb was already popular among my vegan and vegetarian friends as well as everyone else, so I set out to find out if Lincolnshire vegans might be interested in what I was doing. My vegan chocolate business was born!
Why Annie?
Annie Samantha was my only daughter, born on July 6th 1991 – she took us all by surprise by arriving two months early and I will always be grateful for those extra two months. She soon made up her weight and was a happy and healthy toddler, always smiling especially when it was mealtime! So, it was such a huge shock when, on April 16th 1993, 3 months before her second birthday, she was taken from us during her afternoon nap. Life has never been the same since. We slowly picked up the pieces and moved forward with our lives but there has always been something missing – or rather, someone.
Annie loved animals – particularly rabbits – and had a fluffy yellow bunny she took to bed every night. She also loved her chocolate, so when we were encouraged by friends and co-workers to make our chocolates available for sale, naming a vegan treat business was pretty easy. As well as a tribute to my only daughter, it has meant that she continues to have a positive impact on the world, despite not physically being present in it. She is here in spirit though – she is beside me supervising every single chocolate, every cake and every cookie so there is not just a huge amount of me in our treats, but a huge amount of her.
She continues to motivate and inspire me to make the business successful and to be there for the animals wherever we can.
Thank you, Annie, for entrusting me with your legacy. You are loved and missed every day.
