1f94

Do you remember parties and events only a couple of years ago? Parties without chocolate fountains? How did we ever cope without them?!

Chocolate Fountains are now the ‘must have' feature for any party. Weddings, corporate events, product launches, premieres, Christmas parties, any type of event!

Guests are drawn to them like bees around a honey pot. There are always a handful of people who just cannot stay away! They work their way around each dip. Stop… admit how guilty they feel, then carry on around the fountain again!

Many chocolate fountain bookings are for weddings. With couples choosing them as an alternative wedding cake (let's face it who likes wedding cake anyway?). Some have it as a unique centrepiece for their reception. Others as an alternative desert or extra buffet desert.

Companies are choosing them for product launches too. There's nothing like a chocolate fountain to make your clients and potential customers weak at the knees!

The market is growing fast. In the UK thousands of mini chocolate fountains have been sold over the past year for the home. Fondue dip parties of the 70's are now back in full swing!

Melt Chocolate Fountains was established 6 months ago and has had hundreds of enquiries and bookings. Typically Christmas parties and product launches. The company rents out fountains on a dry hire basis or as a complete package with all glassware, flowers, dipping foods (including marshmallows, strawberries, fudge, mini donuts, profiteroles, kiwi fruit and pineapples).

Melt has also had its own unique neon bases designed and manufactured. The neon bases are much better than the bases some companies have which have LED lights. Neon lights, really light up the fountain making it a feature at the event. LED lights only give off a dull light.

Melt has medium and large fountains. Medium fountains suit up to 300 guests, with large fountains up to 700 guests. The chocolate is melted in a microwave before the event and then poured into the base of the fountain. A central column with an internal corkscrew pushes the chocolate up through the fountain which then cascades down the tiers and back into the base.

If you want to hire a chocolate fountain there are a few things to consider beforehand:

Does the company have food hygiene certificates? This is very important, you don't want your guests coming down with food poisoning!

Is the company registered with Environmental Health? Also very important. Environmental health will do an inspection to make sure the company's food premises is up to the job.

Does the company have public liability insurance? An essential! If anything goes wrong you need to be assured that your guests and venue are covered.

What does the service you're booking include? Some companies rent out the fountain without a base. Some only offer a handful of dipping foods. Some restrict the number of dipping foods per guest. Others will only stay for four hours and charge extra for more hours. There's nothing worse than a chocolate fountain being dismantled halfway through your party with a messy fountain being whisked across the dance floor past your guests!

Finally, are you confident with the company? Did they get back to you straight away? Was their presentation/quotation professional? If the answers yes, then their fountains will almost definitely be professional too!

Good luck with your fountain!

Joanna Jones is the founder of Melt Chocolate Fountains a company based in London.