Recently we held our annual Christmas in July event during which we revealed our sparkling Christmas range to the long lead press – who, we hope, will feature our exciting new products in their Christmas publications!  We hosted the event in a penthouse in central London, which has stunning views over the surrounding rooftops.  Which is just as well, because lugging all of our products, display cases, kitchen equipment and more up and down 5 floors over 2 gruelling days was pretty tough!  The finishing touch was our 6-foot Christmas tree – though don’t ask where we managed to find one in July!

One benefit of our very early start to the day were the freshly baked croissants and Classic Smudge, courtesy of our Cacao Cuisine Development Chef, David Demaison – along with lots of other cacao-inspired goodies that we served to the press throughout the day.  It was a great turn out and we hope that all those who dropped by had a great day.

A Christmas favourite - Our Rather Large Crackers

The Christmas Tree we managed to find in July, along with our Dusted Champagne Truffles

David Demaison discussing the joys of Cocoa Cuisine!

Angus Thirwell and Hotel Chocolat's Head of Marketing, Melissa Shackleton

We can reveal today some very exciting news – Hotel Chocolat has developed the world’s first milk chocolate cocoa beans by ‘watering’ our Rabot Estate cocoa trees with milk. This breakthrough means the beans can now be made directly into milk chocolate, without having to add milk to the recipe.

Chief Executive, Angus Thirlwell, said, “This is a much more efficient way to make milk chocolate and I’m delighted to reveal it to our customers first. There has only been one minor downside to date, but we think we may have overcome that problem already…”

Estates Director, Phil Buckley, who has been the driving force behind this huge step forward said, “It’s very quiet here in Saint Lucia during the off season, so we started experimenting to pass the time. Unfortunately, the rum-fed cocoa trees are looking a bit worse for wear, but the milk-fed trees have flourished.”

However, as already mentioned, there is a downside to watering cocoa trees with milk – the creamy aromas have attracted quite a number of cats to the estate.

Phil Buckley explains, “I’ve nothing against cats, but the mewing was driving us all mad. Luckily, it turns out our neighbour’s dogs are lactose intolerant, so they’re more than happy to chase the cats away. I’d like to say a big thank you to our neighbours up at the Poisson d’Avril Estate.”

More soon…

Day one was enjoyable sharing the speaking platform with Mark Constantine, Co-Founder & Managing Director of Lush, Ben Phillips, Managing Director of Steamer Trading Cookshop, Tom Joule, CEO of Joules and chaired by Luke Johnson, Chairman of Risk Capital Partners & Columnist Financial Times.

We enjoyed an open discussion about ‘Releasing the retail entrepreneurial spirit’; something which I’m very passionate about and feel has been key to the success of Hotel Chocolat to date! The thing I remember most clearly, however, was Mark asking what time we got up that morning to prove how hard working entrepreneurs are. Slightly embarrassing to have to admit to 9am thanks to a late night of arguing and Pinotage with Fredik Ahlin, our Creative Director.

It was also amazing to see the power of social media with live tweets being projected onto a huge screen at the conference!

Thanks to everyone who attended our session and who tweeted.

I am penning this from my favourite spot in the Boucan Bar, Saint Lucia. With only 5 days to go until the Hotel opens, the place is a hive of industry… Newly inducted staff in Hotel Chocolat uniforms are going through their paces, final dabs of paint, dwarf date palm trees being dropped into their slots, balancing adjustments being made to cocktails and Cocoa Cottages being triple checked before our first guests arrive.

The weather is gorgeous with the usual cooling breeze and dazzling blue skies.  The restaurant has been open for 3 weeks and there is a real air of confidence now in the kitchen and on the floor, thanks to the leadership and example set by hotel manager Chester Francois and executive chef Jon Bentham.

I will end here as I need to test out again the black quartz infinity edge swimming pool. The Piton is symmetrically reflected in its mirror surface… no accident according to Phil Buckley, designer/ builder/country head!

Enjoying the view of the Pitons from the infinity pool right now!

I have wanted to do a blog for some time and consequently have a lot of pent-up things I want to share with you…

‘What sort of things?’ I hear you ask?

Funny anecdotes about things that happen inside a creatively driven business – think grizzled cocoa farmers meeting London creative luvvies!

Inside-track about chocolate making, like my controversial theory on why vanilla is really used in chocolate blends!

Sneak previews before anyone else sees them e.g. I will post the launch menu of Boucan Restaurant here first.

Reviews and tips on great places I have tested out, to eat, drink and shop in the UK, US and Saint Lucia.

I hope you enjoy,
Angus