No Chocolat For Christmas

Hotel Chocolat delays plans to open its Chiswick branch

Hotel Chocolat branch in Covent Garden

Hotel Chocolat, the luxury chocolatier, has confirmed it is not planning to open its Chiswick branch before Christmas.

The company, which has over seventy shops in the UK, had told us last September that it intended to open a shop and cafe on the Chiswick High Road. The company had said it would be hopeful of an opening in December.

However, in answer to a question this week from Chiswickw4.com, a spokesperson confirmed that the company was not planning any openings in the immediate future. It did not reveal why there was a delay.

Hotel Chocolat had not revealed its planned location, though there was local speculation it could be either the former Carluccio or the Pain Quotidien site, both of which have remained empty for several months.

The luxury chocolate company was founded by two business partners as Choc Express in 1993.

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.

December 7, 2018