Tasting the Weird & Wonderful with Julia Zotter – London Craft Chocolate Fair 2026

About the event

There is more and more demand for ‘weird’ and unexpected inclusions within chocolate – and there’s a strong argument that it all started with the team at Zotter. From their factory in Austria, the Zotter family have been experimenting with whacky inclusions and filled bars for years. Now, Julia Zotter herself (having taken over as MD at Zotter) is coming to London to share with us how they go about creating their concoctions, and stories about unexpected wins and the experiments which just didn’t work.

Expect the unexpected and taste some of our more left-field bars, along with some of the bars Julia is most interested in at the moment.

The event will be led by Spencer Hyman, who has worked with the Zotter family for 10+ years to bring their bars to the UK.

This tasting is part of the London Craft Chocolate Fair 2026. See the full line-up of talks and tastings here. Your ticket will also grant you free access to the Chocolate Makers Market.

Important info:

• Tickets are non-refundable. If you purchase tickets but cannot make the event, please contact us and we’ll see what we can do.
• Please arrive five minutes before the event is due to start.
• The tasting will run for approximately 45 minutes.
• Attendees must be 18+ as alcohol will be served at some events. If you or your guest are under 18, please write to us beforehand to confirm if we can accommodate them at the tasting.
• If you have any dietary requirements or allergies, please let us know. We will do our best to provide alternatives where possible. Please note, we may not be able to cater for severe allergies, as many events will be taking place throughout the day in the space and we cannot guarantee there will be no cross-contamination. If you have any questions, please get in touch with us and we will do our very best to accommodate you.
• The tasting will take place downstairs in the main tasting room, as part of the Cocoa Runners Craft Chocolate Fair. To enter the tasting, please join the second queue outside the building on the right hand side, without entering the fair, and leave time after the event to explore the craft chocolate market upstairs and meet makers from across the UK and beyond.
• Your ticket will include entry to the Chocolate Makers Market (worth £5). When you book onto this tasting, we’ll send you a QR code for entry.
• You can find more information about the event and venue here.
• For any questions, please email [email protected]

About the London Craft Chocolate Fair 2026

For the fourth year running, Cocoa Runners are hosting their popular Craft Chocolate Fair on the 17th & 18th October 2026. The craft chocolate experts will host an indoor market with bean-to-bar chocolate makers from the UK and beyond, with a series of talks, tastings and pairings with experts from tea, coffee, olive oil, wine, beer and more.

The event will take place at the Fidelio Cafe and Concert Venue in Farringdon, London, running from 10-6 on Saturday 17th and 10-5 Sunday 18th. Free entry to the fair will be included in every tasting ticket. For those not attending a tasting, entry will cost £5.

About your hosts

Julia Zotter

Zotter produce around 500 different types of chocolate from bean-to-bar in their factory in Austria. Julia Zotter took over as managing director of the family business from her father Josef Zotter in March 2026 and was already developing new products together with him since her return from China in 2017. She built the chocolate theatre in Shanghai and ran it for three years (May 2014-August 2017). Julia spent a year in China (Xi-an and Beijing) during secondary school and went on to study food science and biotechnology at Vienna’s University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences. For her final thesis, she travelled to Brazil to establish a cacao research project. In 2013, she graduated from the Cordon Bleu Academy in Paris with a Grand-Diplome in Pâtisserie and Cuisine as one of the best in her year. Julia has been working in all areas of the chocolate factory since she was a child.

Spencer Hyman

Few people know more about chocolate than Spencer. His love for craft chocolate began in the 90s when travelling to the US. His career has spanned everything from making cabbage-patch dolls in Asia to launching the first major online music discovery service, Last.fm. But in 2013, he decided it was time for the world to discover the world of craft chocolate.

Today, he is a champion for craft chocolate makers all over the world. Spencer hosts chocolate tastings and education courses around the world, judges for international chocolate awards, and he often appears on TV, media and at conferences, including Sunday Brunch, World Cocoa Conference, Great Taste Awards, Society of Flavourists, International Wine Challenge, Barista Connect, Academy of Chocolate and more.