Remembering Chris Brennan

One of the most wonderful parts of Craft Chocolate is the people. The farmers. The consumers. The bean sourcers. And the makers.

(Almost) everyone is in the world of Craft Chocolate because they/we believe in the key principles – the transparency, the social and environmental impact, the amazing flavour, the health benefits – to start with a few.

And it’s perhaps why there is a special enthusiasm at Craft Chocolate events like Showcolat, EuroBean, Chocoa and our own Cocoa Runners Fair (although we do need to be wary of sometimes being a bit too insidery and not expanding the love more). There is an unspoken belief, and realisation, how fortunate we are not to be on the other side (big chocolate), that you can FEEL when you meet someone passionate about Craft Chocolate, especially amongst the founders.

So it was a massive shock and moment of profound sadness when Craft Chocolate lost one of its leading lights and most respected makers – and I lost a close friend – with the passing of Chris Brennan. Chris, along with his daughter Joanna, founded first Pump Street Bakery and then Pump Street Chocolate in Orford, Suffolk. Chris and Jo have built an amazing team, a multiple award-winning and distinctive brand, products (they rightfully “own” the bread and chocolate inclusion space) and vision that we all treasure.

Chris was even more than that. He was an amazingly successful businessman. He was educated in the Caribbean, finishing his early education with his grandparents after his parents migrated and gaining his degree from the University of the West Indies. Then, with typical Chris foresight, he moved into his first career; computing. He started with IBM, eventually rising to become the GM of IBM Bahamas and registering patents for double digits worth of new ideas and techniques. Chris was incredibly modest, and he was reluctant to boast about his achievements at IBM. And he was equally reticent about his next career step, founding a super successful software company in Canada that continues today.

He then moved to the UK with his wife Frances, and settled in the Suffolk village of Orford to a completely different career – as a baker. Chris was into all foods – from ice cream to butter, and of course bread to chocolate. His love affair with bread was piqued on a family trip to Paris in 2008, followed by – in typical Chris fashion – learning to master sourdough and using this skill to support the local school in Orford via weekend sales.

I count myself incredibly fortunate to have known him from when he and Joanna first went “live” with chocolate over a decade ago. Thanks to my sister (who regularly visits Orford) I heard about them and serendipitously managed to make the first order on the Pump Street Chocolate website. I was instantly smitten. And Chris being Chris, rang me up, and we arranged to have lunch. It was the start of an incredibly important relationship to me and to Cocoa Runners.

We’d have lunch and calls and meetings once or twice a month. He introduced me to some of my favourite London places. And I don’t just mean restaurants (where his expertise was legendary) – he was also great on places to meet; for example I remember meeting him in a wonderful small park in Farringdon near his flat where he had me try prototypes of the first croissant bars during one of the Covid “breaks”. He taught me tons about so many things – how you can send queen bees via the royal mail in the post, how to evaluate ice cream, what sort of knives to use to cut pizza, why Arcteryx was a great brand (and Canadian) and so much more. He also had a wicked sense of humour and fun. He was a generous host – frequently inviting my whole family over, and we all remember the extraordinary excitement he showed for taking over the Orford town hall for a special viewing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show (of course it was in fancy dress, and he had an extraordinary wig – and I wished we’d stayed; he did naturally invite us!).

He was incredibly generous with people – and to people. And patient. And inspiring. He was a great listener. And he could see the potential, and knew how to realise this potential, in people from diverse backgrounds – fellow makers, partner farmers, machinery engineers and potential customers. To quote from some of the people he worked with (thanks to Di here) – ‘He respected those who worked with rigour and commitment. He did not make assumptions about anyone but allowed you to prove yourself and placed you in positions that challenge you to strive and become fulfilled. He always wanted us to move forward as individuals and as a business and didn’t want us to fear making mistakes at the expense of not doing anything at all.’ When I had the sad duty of letting other makers and bean suppliers hear of his passing, the outpouring of grief, respect and love was universal.

He was also incredibly intellectually curious, extraordinarily thorough and rigorous. Asking Chris something about Craft Chocolate was like drinking from a firehose. He liked nothing better than to share his research and incredibly extensive library. He also loved to “tinker”. So naturally he was one of, if not the first, to start experimenting with sourdough yeasts to see how these would impact the flavour of the beans he was purchasing from Ecuador. He similarly loved machinery, tinkering with everything from how to ensure the consistency of cocoa powder (with pin rollers) to all sorts of machines to devices to package chocolate (admission: those cocoa pouches we supply in all our first subscription boxes were inspired by Pump Street’s initial launch packaging, the precursor to today’s award winning “Suffolk” pink wrappers).

Along with Jo, they also pioneered one of the most impactful “gateway” craft chocolate bars – – their bakery range. With hindsight, the combinations of sourdough and dark chocolate, or rye and dark milk, or panettone bars for Christmas, hot cross buns at Easter etc. are “obvious” from a company that first baked bread and then crafted chocolate. But its execution, its testing, its packaging, its communication, its marketing has literally introduced tens, if not hundreds of thousands of consumers to Craft Chocolate. Thank you.

You can learn a lot about someone from their friends, family and who they choose to work with. And this is epitomised by Chris. I – and all of us at Cocoa Runners – feel incredibly honoured to have not just known, and worked with Chris, but also come to know his daughter and co-founder Joanna, his wife Frances, the amazing team of Di, Millie, Dan, David, Lizzie (and sorry for not mentioning everyone).

I feel blessed to have known him. The world of craft chocolate has lost a true friend and visionary but we have the comfort of knowing that his work, spirit and ethos continues on.

Thank you Chris. We will miss you so so much