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Hotel Chocolat Glazing the World

Posted 10th September 2010 by James Cotton

Hotel Chocolat continues to go from strength to strength as a British-owned phenomenon and a Cambridge based company committed to real, authentic chocolate. 

From the very beginning, over 15 years ago, founders Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris of Hotel Chocolat had one goal in mind – to make a better type of chocolate available to UK consumers bored by the mediocrity of that available in supermarkets and on the high street.

From what started as a catalogue-based business the company kept growing and expanding with its first Hotel Chocolat shop in 2004. Today the company has 41 retail shops around the UK, a transactional website and a mail order catalogue. Hotel Chocolat Ltd. also have their warehouse based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, and currently have two stores in the Boston area. In the first quarter of 2010, Hotel Chocolat also went into the Middle East and as a result have one store each in Bahrain, Dubai and Kuwait.

The Chocolate Tasting Club that launched in 1998 currently has around 100,000 members that have tested over 1,500 different recipes – all made with premium wholesome ingredients, passion and flair. 

The company has invested heavily to keep innovating and growing. In 2006, the company officially acquired the Rabot Estate in St. Lucia, West Indies. This acquisition made it the only company in the UK to own its own cocoa estate to manufacture products. Although a large investment and full of risk, the commitment has been repaid not only by the loyalty of customers but also through industry accolades including Emerging Retailer of the Year by the influential Retail Week.

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