Success story: Bossa Nova Chocolate
Background
Based in Newport, Bossa Nova Chocolate produce a range of handmade Brazilian-style chocolate truffles. Founded in 2019 by Andrea Staggemeier, who was born in Brazil, Bossa Nova’s name comes from her love of the Brazilian music style. In 2024, Bossa Nova won the Rising Star award at the Wales Food and Drink Awards.
Bossa Nova initially approached ZERO2FIVE for support in 2022 when the company was looking for help with extending the shelf life of their products as well as implementing more efficient traceability and production systems.
To drive business further growth, Bossa Nova relocated to a new larger production facility in 2025 and worked with ZERO2FIVE to help with the transition.
Support from ZERO2FIVE
Shelf-life support
Bossa Nova had encountered crystallisation issues with several of their products, which reduced their shelf-life to 14 days. The confectionery experts at ZERO2FIVE investigated the cause of the crystallisation issues, reviewing the company’s ingredients, recipes, and production processes. As a result, changes to the production method were identified, which resolved the crystallisation issue across Bossa Nova’s entire product range.
ZERO2FIVE carried out organoleptic testing, demonstrating that the revised products’ texture, aroma, flavour, and appearance were assessed as acceptable for up to 70 days.
Andrea Staggemeier, owner of Bossa Nova, said: “It’s incredible. By changing one small step, we’ve gone from a shelf life of two weeks to ten weeks without crystallisation. So that’s opened up the market for my products.”
Process efficiency
An independent review of Bossa Nova’s manufacturing practices was carried out during a development day at ZERO2FIVE, with the aim of identifying improvements which could be made to increase production efficiency and standardise the cooking times for different products.
Using the company’s most technically challenging product as an example, two main bottlenecks were identified which reduced manufacturing efficiency.
As a result, ZERO2FIVE researched two pieces of equipment which Bossa Nova could purchase to automate both these processes and make significant efficiency improvements.
Andrea said: “Purchasing a stirring machine has improved the production process, and it has also helped make my life a bit healthier as the constant stirring aggravated my health conditions. Standardising the cooking times has enabled me to get the same product consistency regardless of who makes them.”
Site design
ZERO2FIVE supported Bossa Nova with the site design of their new production facility, helping the company to ensure that it met regulatory requirements and enabled efficient, quality and safe production.
SALSA certification
Bossa Nova embarked upon securing SALSA certification in 2025. One of the UK’s most widely recognised food and drink safety certification, SALSA certification is important to many food and drink manufacturers as it demonstrates that they are operating to industry-recognised food and drink safety standards.
Andrea first attended a half day SALSA workshop at ZERO2FIVE, which provided an overview of the requirements of the standard. A ZERO2FIVE technologist then delivered one-to-one mentoring, focusing on the different sections of the SALSA standard, from prerequisite controls and HACCP to management systems and premises. ZERO2FIVE also supplied the company with templates that could be adapted into their own bespoke food safety management system.
Prior to Bossa Nova’s SALSA audit, ZERO2FIVE carried out a pre-audit, which helped the company to understand what to expect from the real thing and to make any refinements.
Bossa Nova successfully passed their SALSA audit in August 2025 enabling the company to secure their spot at Blas Cymru / Taste Wales in Newport in October 2025. Attending this event will allow the company to showcase their products to retail and foodservice buyers from across the UK and worldwide. Securing SALSA means that Bossa Nova can supply their chocolates to larger customers who require the standard.
Andrea said: “With the amazing support from ZERO2FIVE I couldn’t go wrong with securing SALSA certification. SALSA is fundamental to my business growth plan, and it will open up so many new opportunities for potential customers. I came from a different industry into food, and so ZERO2FIVE’s knowledge has been vital to a small business like mine.
Get in touch with us
If you’d like to find out more about how we can help your business or have any questions about the support we can offer, then please get in touch.
