Yiotis Panagiotou Email & Phone Number

Huntingdon, England, United Kingdom

Responsible for developing products for the Velvetiser drinking chocolate and core dark chocolate categories as well as working on seasonal campaigns. To date I have delivered a new dark chocolate range as well as Velvetiser Limited Edition flavours for 2024 through to 2025.Alongside this I am also responsible for single origin chocolate development and any speciality chocolate development required with projects including the development of St Lucia chocolates for the Hotel Chocolat Better Way Bar.

Huntingdon, England, United Kingdom

Managing production of all single origin and speciality (e,g, nutmilk) chocolate from bean to coverture. Working to improve process' and quality by working with my team to achieve the best possible finished product with a keen eye on efficiencies and cost control.Focused on growing and developing my team through empowerment and knowledge growth. Fostering an environment of teamwork and collaboration the team has an invested interest in the process and view it as theirs. I enjoy nurturing and growing individuals.I have acted as manufacturing lead on 2 key projects.1. The movement from our old facility to a new million pound purpose built facility, spreading processing and production across 4 floors- incorporating chilled storage, a segregated bean sorting floor, a main production floor and a floor dedicated to the production of nutmilk. This project also included the upgrading of some of our existing machines to improve throughput as well as reduce manual handling.2. The purchase and installation of a machine dedicated to the production of our Nutmilk product, it sought to boost daily production by 457%. We successfully oversaw the instillation and optimisation of the machine eventually producing a product that bettered the product produced by the previous method. I have led the department to a position where production capacities and efficiencies have been maximised to their full potential, the team is achieving their potential, are self sufficient and self supported and the department as a whole is ready for the next step.

Huntingdon, United Kingdom

Overseeing Hotel Chocolat’s production of Single Origin Chocolate from bean all the way through to Couverture (liquid chocolate).the role involves overseeing 2 teams producing 350kg per day and managing coverture production from front to end. I am the main point of contact to provide multiple aspects of support to my team and other departments in all things single origin and specialist chocolate.also deputising main factory cell manager overseeing central preparation, panning, deboxing and hygiene.

Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Working on the upscaling of chocolate making (filled and solids) from the development kitchen to the factory floor. This involved producing product specifications, running trials, providing line support, observing production and making process improvements where possible, monitoring frost production runs to ensure specifications were being delivered to the factory floor that worked first time every time.I also was the process lead in the instillation of a significantly upscaled plant producing single origin chocolate.

London, United Kingdom

Resident chocolatier @ Hotel Chocolat Roast & Conch - Covent Garden/Seven Dials.I am the real Willy Wonka of Covent Garden & Seven Dials. In the unique position of being the only bean to bar producer in the area. I get to work with some of the finest beans from all around the world, transforming them from a raw bean into amazing single origin chocolate some recent examples have been: a beautifully acidic Vietnam 80% and more mellow Trinidad 73% . This chocolate is then used in our Roast and Conch Cafe for our drinks and also in the exciting range of MOS (Made On Site) products that I make for the cafe. Managing production and demand is key as well as stock management.I also give the great general public a rare glimpse of this entire process. An opportunity to immerse themselves in the theatre that is chocolate making with its amazing sights and smells that are created from roasting, breaking and conching of cocoa. Best of all, they can see how exactly it is made and even taste it! An opportunity to inform, inspire and even sometimes challenge peoples perceptions of chocolate and how it is made and how it tastes. Customer engagement is a significant part of this roleAs the new MOS range develops there is greater focus upon driving sales and also brand recognition within the area. Welcoming chocolate tours and holding events in our fantastic store helps us achieve this as well as connecting with the local community.to ensure our store is THE go to chocolate store.

Cambridge, United Kingdom

I assist both the store manager and assistant manager in the daily running of store operations. In my role I am concerned with the additional responsibilities of:Opening and closing the store.Cash and stock management.Creating the daily brief, detailing daily and weekly sales targets and figures including ATV and IPT customer service score and further actions to improve. Staff training.Customer service including handling complaints and queries.First stage interviews for the recruiting of new staff members.Achieving both personal and store KPI’s. I have recently been tasked with helping to increase the stores customer service rating. This has included re-training staff using new approaches to both sales and customer service.

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Initially brought into the business over the Easter period due to my experience in delivering excellent customer service and knowledge of customer satisfaction programmes. My objective over the period was to help the store work towards the companies “100% guest satisfaction” KPI as well as providing support to ensure the team performed also.During this short space of time I asserted myself as a key performer in the delivery of guest satisfaction KPI's and managing customer expectations.

Newark

Operating within AVG's Business department, I am responsible for seeking out new reseller opportunities within the Midlands area and account managing for an initial opening period. I am also responsible with supporting the regional account managers in the maximising of revenue within the Midlands area.Direct business sales is the second element of the role. Through a mixture of cold calling, trial leads, databases as well as direct inbound requests AVG Business Products are sold into businesses.

Bsc Hospitality Business Management, Marketing, Service And Facilities Management, Hospitality Management Applications

Graduated with First Class Honours

A-Levels, Business Studies, English Literature, History, B B C