Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier and cocoa grower, with over seventy shops in the United Kingdom. Hotel Chocolat is the only company in the United Kingdom to grow cocoa on its own plantation.
History
Hotel chocolat New York arrivée -
In 1988, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris began designing and selling mints as "MMC", before moving to chocolates, some six years later. Rebranded as "Geneva Chocolates", the current co-founders of Hotel Chocolat adapted trade to the catalogue-based world and before long, had steered towards the name "Choc Express". Throughout these next few years, Angus and Peter had turned their focus on making this brand of exclusive chocolates available to UK consumers.
In 1998, the Chocolate Tasting Club was launched in Britain, and now currently has around 100,000 members. To date, the Tasting Club has trialled over 1,500 different recipes. As detailed on their website, the Chocolate Tasting Club sends out boxes to customers all over the country each month.
In 2003, Choc Express rebranded as Hotel Chocolat and launched its first retail store in the centre of Watford. The company then grew initially to having four stores in the East Anglian area, with stores in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and St Albans opening between 2005 and 2006. Today, the company has over 70 around the UK.
In 2006, the company officially acquired the Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia, and is, to date, the only company in the UK to own its own cocoa plantation. This plantation is one of the reasons given for the company choosing not to be Fair Trade-accredited, as only smallholdings are allowed.
In 2011, Hotel Chocolat opened its Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia. The hotel sits on the Rabot Estate which is perched high up between the Piton mountains. The hotel currently has six lodges and a cocoa-inspired Boucan Restaurant.
Hotel Chocolat has been awarded Emerging Retailer of the Year by Retail Week and nominated as one of the UK’s CoolBrands. The company was also awarded the silver prize in the 2009 Academy of Chocolate awards.
In November 2013, Hotel Chocolat opened two UK restaurants, Rabot 1745 in London's Borough Market, and Roast + Conch in Leeds.
See also
- List of bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers
References
External links
- Official website
