A Very Special Chocolate Collaboration for 70th Edinburgh Festival
As a lifelong fan of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and a proud Edinburgh-based brand, being invited to work with the Fringe as part of their 70th anniversary was a genuine treat.
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. Every August, it transforms the city into something extraordinary and to have JustBe Botanicals products at the heart of that celebration in the Fringe Shop on the Royal Mile, was a milestone we'll always be proud of.
The Fringe didn't just stock our chocolates, they chose three bars from our existing range: JustBe Loved, JustBe Active and JustBe Happy and gave them exclusive Fringe-branded packaging. The products themselves were exactly as we make them. The presentation was entirely, beautifully Fringe.
The Three JustBe 'Fringe-afied' Bars
JustBe Blushing Rose - our JustBe Loved dark chocolate with pure rose oil and scattered rose petals, reimagined in Fringe packaging. Romantic, indulgent and the bar that would later earn a Joe Wicks endorsement as "the best chocolate I've ever tasted."
JustBe Fresh Mint - our JustBe Active chocolate, repackaged for the Fringe. Clean, cooling and invigorating, the perfect pick-me-up between shows on a long August afternoon.
JustBe Zesty Lime - our JustBe Happy chocolate in its Fringe edition. Bright, citrusy and energising, sunshine in a wrapper, as the city buzzes around you.
As the Fringe team put it: "Created here in Edinburgh by the wonderful JustBe, these unique flavour combinations will surprise, delight and maybe, just maybe, make your day."
What the Selection Meant
Being chosen by the Fringe wasn't something I applied for in the traditional sense. It grew from a relationship that had built up over years of supporting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, the charity that provides central support to the Fringe, through donations, raffle prizes and a genuine love of everything the festival stands for.
It was a conversation that started when I dropped off a raffle prize and got talking about plans for the following year, not knowing that it would be the festival's landmark 70th anniversary. By the time I walked home, the thought had arrived: could JustBe chocolates be part of this?
Taking that idea forward and having the Fringe embrace it was such a meaningful moments in the JustBe story. A recognition, from one of the world's most celebrated cultural institutions, that our products were distinctive enough, special enough and Edinburgh enough to represent the festival's 70th anniversary to visitors from across the globe.