Company director Graham Bichan believes serious study is needed if you want to savour the sweet smell of success.

He travelled to Germany to investigate the science of chocolate making - proving at the same time that it's possible to mix business with pleasure.

Mr Bichan is part of the family team behind the Orkney Creamery, a company that has just added fudge making to its well-established ice cream business.

The firm has acquired the world famous Orkney Fudge factory in Stromness. It intends to step up fudge production and develop a new range of confectionaries.

Determined to master the skills needed to produce sweets with a mouth-watering taste and texture, Mr Bichan searched the Internet for the ultimate in chocolate training courses.

His quest led him to the Central College of the German Confectionary Industry in Solingen for a week long course that attracted fellow students from 13 countries as far apart as Australia, Egypt and Finland.

The specialist training was supported by Orkney Enterprise as an important way to bring new skills to the area.

"This was training that couldn't be provided in Orkney or anywhere else in the UK," said Rosemary Seagrief, development manager with the Kirkwall-based Local Enterprise Company.

"This is a business that's already producing a quality product that needed new skills to help it diversify into a new area of food production. It made sense for us to help them get the best possible training."

Mr Bichan said it was quickly confirmed that he had made the right choice of course when he discovered that the only other students from the UK were two product development specialists from Cadburys.

"As a food scientist I wanted to gain an in depth understanding of the art of chocolate making," he said. "We spent a whole day in a lecture theatre learning about the crystallisation of the fats that chocolate contains.

"This is of fundamental importance if you want to make sweets with a good texture, a long shelf life and an appealing appearance - it's what gives chocolate that lovely shine."

But there was considerable hands-on experience to be gained on the German course as well.

The students went back to basics, learning how to shell and roast cocoa beans to produce chocolate as a raw ingredient.

They were given an insight into the pros and cons of the latest chocolate making machinery - important information for a company planning to expand production in Stromness - and were taught the intricacies of making sweets by hand.

"It was an extremely valuable experience - and there was plenty of taste testing to ensure it wasn't all hard work," added Mr Bichan.

"It made you appreciate just how tricky chocolate can be to work with. It's a temperamental substance and a lot of skill and knowledge are needed if you want to produce confectionary that looks and tastes good."

The company now hopes that a new range of confectionaries will be selling alongside traditional fudge later this year.