'I DROPPED MY CHOCS OFF AT THE PALACE'

Chocolatier Geri Martin, 45, lives in Coleraine with her children Abigail, 15, and Josh, 12.

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I've always been a chocoholic. Since I was small, I've savoured the smooth, velvety texture and how it melts in my mouth. So in 2012, during an anxious maternity leave with the second of my two children, Abigail, then three, and Josh, four months, and needing some me time, I signed up for an evening class in chocolate making.

Every Monday night for 10 weeks, I left my then-husband, who I separated from in 2023, to do bedtime and went to college.

I fell in love with it. I enjoyed everything, from melting down and moulding the special couverture chocolate and creating flavours, to learning about packaging and starting a business.