This Easter there's a chance to get your chocolate fix whilst also supporting local businesses and meaningful causes.
Zara's chocolates, which has been situated in Southville since 2013, is always busy in the run up to Easter. The shelves are stocked with a Hot Cross Bun Eggs decorated with red poppies, a limited edition Sophie Long Art ‘chocolate balloon bar’ for £5 and a colourful egg box with six filled milk chocolate eggs, each wrapped in coloured foil.
However, one product that's on offer this year isn't part of the usual line-up. One lucky person has the opportunity to win a specially crafted giant egg, with the proceeds being donated to a Ukrainian charity.
READ MORE: Meet the Easter egg maker who’s also known as Bristol’s very own Willy Wonka
Speaking to Bristol Live, on the egg-stra special creation, Zara Narracott, owner of Zara's Choclates said: "We always enjoy creating an exciting big display at Easter, and we haven't had the chance to do so in a good few years. With the shop being closed for the last two Easter periods, it seemed like an exciting time to bring out another big egg display, to create some excitement for customers shopping with us this Easter.
"We always wonder what to then do with big sculptures we make, so think it becomes quite fun to allow someone to win it - I mean who wouldn't love a GIANT Easter egg, and so it made sense to turn it into a charity event and pool our skills to try and raise money for a good cause."
The huge impressive egg is currently in the Southville store and all customers have to do to win the giant egg is guess its weight. Zara collaborated with artist Sophie Long to create the masterpiece.
"All of us in the shop are big fans of her talent and wonderfully colourful work" she explained. "After chatting to Sophie following some comments on our colourful Easter range last year, and her mentioning she would love to give painting with chocolate a try, the seed got planted and I decided to get in touch with a potential plan for this year."
The egg was made over two days, with Sophie spending around five hours adding her artistic expertise. Zara explained that she painted in the shop window, giving customers the chance to come and watch the show throughout the day.
"We have a giant egg mould, which we mould as two separate halves, before sticking together and securing to a heavy base for stability. The egg was made over two days, as we waited for the mould to set and come out, before moulding our second half, and then assembling together" Zara explained.
Zara added: "We aren't allowing guesses without visiting the store at the moment, partly as I need to know that customers are local so that we can deliver to them on the Easter weekend, and I thought it would be quite tricky to get an idea of the sizing just from photos. We also want to allow people to view the other guesses, so that we don't end up with two people guessing the same."
However, there are other collaboration creations between Zara's Chocolates and Sophie Long that eager customers can get their hands on. A limited number of special edition bars to celebrate the collaboration can be purchased from the Zara's Chocolates website.
Visit Zara’s Chocolates at 200 North Street, Southville, Bristol, BS3 1JF to have a guess.
