History
In 1988, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris began designing and selling mints as "MMC", before moving to chocolates, some five 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, and each month, these boxes feature "a brand new selection of chocolates including cutting edge, new recipes and timeless classics alike – all made with passion, flair using only the best ingredients and no artificial colours."
In 2003, Choc Express rebranded as Hotel Chocolat and launched their first retail store in the city 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. A full list of stores can be found on their website, adjacent. (see link). List of Hotel Chocolat stores
In 2006, the company officially acquired the Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia, West Indies, and are to-date, the only company in the UK to own their 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. Today, the company has fifty-six stores around the UK, including twelve locations in Central London.
Currently, the company has a transactional website, a mail order catalogue and a retail expansion program underway for the United States, anchored by a flagship store on Boston's Newbury Street. The store in Boston in the United States, is the owner of Hotel Chocolat's first-ever "Tasting Room".
2012 Hotel Chocolat opens new store in the Netherlands, Amsterdam
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.
In 2011, Hotel Chocolat opened its Hotel in Saint Lucia, West Indies. The hotel sits on the Rabot Estate which is perched high up between the Piton mountains. The hotel currently has 6 Cocoa Cottages and a cocoa inspired Boucan Restaurant. In December 2011, Hotel Chocolat plans to open large cottages on the site called Cocoa Pods Luxe.
Hotel Chocolat has been awarded Emerging Retailer of the Year by Retail Week and nominated as one of the UK’s CoolBrands. The company were also been awarded Silver prize in the 2009 Academy of Chocolate awards.
In September 2012, The company opened their second Scottish store in Aberdeen.
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