By ANN FOTHERINGHAM

IF YOU are expecting glamour and grandeur on a Willy Wonka scale, the east end’s newest chocolate factory is going to disappoint you.

But only until you walk inside.

The slate grey shipping container tucked up a side street near the Barrowland smells heavenly.

From the bitter scent of the cocoa nibs stacked up ready for grinding; to the delicious aroma of liquid chocolate in the tempering machine, once you step inside, there is no mistaking it.

Chocolate is everywhere. And this is no ordinary chocolate.

This is less sugary, lactose-free, really-almost-good-for-you healthier Rebel Chocolate, dreamt up by immunologists Neil Robson and Suzanne Graham.

“Please note the ‘ier’ at the end,” grins Neil. “We are not saying this is a health product. It’s great-tasting chocolate, but with a nutritional twist…”

Even though they don’t do eggs yet – they hope to launch a range next Easter – life is busy for the duo as people hunt out something chocolatey that’s a little bit different.

Born in Southampton with an English mother and a father from Glasgow, Neil grew up in New Zealand.

He came to Scotland to study immunology, firstly at Edinburgh University and then at the University of Glasgow, where his work concentrated on developing a potential vaccine for glandular fever.

A serious back injury, sustained during a martial arts training session, left him in considerable pain and when surgery to correct it failed, he was left, he says, “wondering what the hell I was going to do with my life.”

He explains: “Staying in acadaemia would probably have meant lecturing, and there was no way I could stand for long periods of time, or work 60-hour weeks.

“I was lying in bed one night, thinking about what to do next, and the idea of creating a new kind of snack bar came into my head.

“I started wondering – could you add protein to chocolate? Could you actually reformulate chocolate to make it healthier? Cocoa has great health benefits, but I believe the high levels of sugar found in most chocolate outweighs those benefits.”

The idea took hold and Rebel Chocolate was born. Firstly, in the couple’s west end kitchen with the help of a small nut grinder bought from a specialist store, and latterly, in the shipping container as part of Glasgow Collective, an interesting coworking set-up in the Barrowlands area of Glasgow’s east end.

Suppliers already range from Kimble’s, Tinderbox and Peckhams in Glasgow to coffee shops, delis and garden centres across Scotland and in England and Wales. A bodybuilding shop, Better Bodies, has also become a supporter and some “interesting” big name brands have approached Neil about stocking Rebel.

“I’m delighted to be on their radar already, but we will have to expand to increase capacity,” he admits, adding firmly: “But we plan to stay in Glasgow.

“We love being here, at the Glasgow Collective, which is home to some pretty cool, creative businesses.”

He adds: “But I’d love to set up Rebel Chocolate Australasia – my family are in New Zealand, Suzanne’s are here, so it would make sense to have a base in both places.”

Although the couple use modern nutritional knowledge and more than a little science in the formulation of the chocolate, it is made the “old fashioned” way, using stone on stone grinders.

Ingredients blend together for around four to five days, in a process called refining and conching, before being tempered, the method which creates “shiny, snappy” chocolate.

“You have to make sure the temperature is correct – even the moulds have to be warmed up before you put the liquid chocolate inside them, or you’ll get the wrong kind of finish,” explains Neil.

Recently, he has been joined by an assistant chocolate-maker, Alain Baron, through the Scottish Government’s Access to Work scheme.

“Alain helps me with the physical side of the job,” says Neil. “Sometimes my back can cause me a lot of pain, so this has been fantastic for me and the business.”

Despite the career switch from immunology to chocolate-making, Neil’s science background is never far away from his thinking.

“I’ve also been doing some research into adding CBD to chocolate – it’s a non-narcotic used to reduce pain,” he says.

“I live with chronic pain – it’s why setting up the business has been perfect for me, because it’s flexible. I can sit down when I need to, I can rest when I need to.”

He laughs: “So making a chocolate bar that could actually help reduce pain sounds like a great idea to me.”

In case it sounds like all the fun is being taken out of chocolate, Neil is quick to reassure.

“Chocolate IS fun and it tastes amazing and it’s a real treat for most people,” he says, with a grin. “Ours is all of that, but it comes with less guilt.”