The sweet smell of success for Hotel Chocolat

23 April 2016 • 3:39pm

T here is the phrase “so good it should be illegal” and then there is Hotel Chocolat’s particular hazelnut praline, which actually is.

“Send me to prison for the hazelnuts, it’s worth it,” Thirlwell cries with a hysterical laugh. It is this unrelenting exuberance, as well as his shock of white-blonde hair and tall, rakish figure which makes the 53-year-old instantly stand apart from a room full of suited diners at Rabot 1745, his cocoa-themed restaurant in London’s foodie Borough Market.

“Send me to prison for the hazelnuts, it’s worth it”

T hirlwell, the son of Edwin Thirlwell who started Prontaprint, KallKwik and the Mr Whippy ice-cream brand, started his own entrepreneurial career when he met Harris almost three decades ago.

Thirlwell said he was determined for “Choc Express”, as it was known then, to return to the level of quality before rationing in the Second World War meant sugar was substituted for cocoa.

Hotel Chocolat&%2339;s cocoa farm

I nstead, Thirlwell headed off in a van across the Channel on a tour of Belgian chocolatiers, on what he calls his “Flanders Quest”.

“I went to 12 addresses and looked at what they made, ensured they had the right philosophy, the right machinery and skills for what we wanted. I said 'could you make this for me a bit less sweet and add a few cocoa nibs and put a couple of stripes on?’ and they protested until I said I would order 10,000 in one go.”

“Thirlwell’s obsession with chocolate is obsessive, even likening it to his “crack cocaine”

“We didn’t want to open in Cambridge, our local city, because we didn’t want people to just buy stuff because they felt sorry for us. We thought that if we can make it in Watford, we can make it anywhere,” he says, roaring with laughter at his provincial take on Frank Sinatra’s lyrics.

“When we opened the first store we were worried that the brand name would be too intimidating and too mercurial,” Thirlwell remembers.

A Hotel Chocolat shop

“Instead of an intimidating process we wanted to make it open for people to enjoy and pick up what they like.” Hotel Chocolat’s future took a different course when, shortly after opening its first shops, Thirlwell was sent a book on chocolate-making in the 1920s from one of his tasting club members and started reading it on a plane to visit his father in Barbados.

“I was there in the Caribbean sun, reading this book about plantations and how chocolate used to be made and sourced and I was utterly inspired.” After convincing co-founder Harris, which proved much easier once he also had a taste of island life, they bought the oldest cocoa plantation on St Lucia. the 130 acre Rabot estate.

A t the time St Lucia’s cocoa industry was at an all-time low with workers so badly paid that they were leaving cocoa pods to rot on the trees. Hotel Chocolat’s purchase revived the trade after convincing workers of its ethical programme which meant that farmers were paid a higher price for their harvest and could reinvest in the land.

“Chocolate is one of the most pulse-quickening products there is”

“We think that stores are essential, because for something as tactile, sensorial and experiential as chocolate it’s one of the most pulse-quickening products that there is”, Thirlwell reasons.

“If customers couldn’t smell it, taste it and hear the stories it would be a missed opportunity.” Thirlwell’s obsession with chocolate is obsessive, even likening it to his “crack cocaine”.

A chocolate martini as served as its cocoa themed hotel and restaurant

“There are a million reasons to eat dark chocolate; it boosts your cognitive facilities, awakens the body and keeps you happy and focused. We know that the 100pc cocoa bars are now being bought by athletes, cyclists and people on paleo diets for their health benefits.”

H otel Chocolat, which is also trialling three shops in Copenhagen ahead of an overseas expansion push, has started introducing cafes into its shops, which offer another revenue stream, while diners can have chips with cacao ketchup at its Rabot restaurant.

“Our analysis is it’s the right time for us,” says Thirlwell. “The advice we have been given is that we are a strong brand with a strong business and that in nine out of 10 turbulent conditions we can make this work.”

So once Hotel Chocolat is floated will Thirlwell be disappearing off, cocoa-infused cocktail in hand to the Caribbean sun. “Not at all, it’s like we’ve had the hors d’oeuvre and now we’re on to the starter. We have so much more we want to do.”

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