Love Cocoa confectionery brand set to unveil its first retail store
James Cadbury opened the first Love Cocoa store in London last December, which has now closed, but the business and its thriving online operation has been acquired by Made Unommon. Pic: Love Cocoa
B Corp certified premium chocolate business, Love Cocoa has achieved a notable long-term strategic goal in unveiling plans to move into its first retail store for the business, as part of a new London initiative to boost emerging enterprises, writes Neill Barston.
The company, founded by James Cadbury, has emerged as a successful candidate from a Westminster City project known as “Meanwhile On: Oxford Street’ which is designed to offer prime location shops for brands at a reduced rent using vacant premises.
Notably, the three-year campaign has reportedly seen around 1,000 application, with Love Cocoa set to be in the first wave of new openings this autumn, and marks the end of notable search by the business to find the right retail location from which to launch its ‘bricks and mortar’ operations to complement its existing online trade and direct supply to a number of supermarkets and dedicated outlets within the UK.
Now in its eighth year of trading, the business, which started out as the UK’s first letterbox-friendly chocolate service, has expanded its portfolio from grown from bar chocolate to include truffles, selection boxes, biscuits, and hot chocolate flakes.
The business, which James, a descendant of Cadbury founder John Cadbury, established the business gradually under his own steam, having famously rejected funding from appearing on the BBC’s Dragon’s Den investment TV show.
It has set its stall out to place sustainability and ethical sourcing as key elements of the company, including an initiative to plant 1.8 million trees planted in the last four years in a bid to help combat deforestation and climate change.
The company’s first store is set to be located on Westminster City Council’s South Molton Street, aiming to appeal to a broad base of locals and tourists alike, offering additional items including soft-serve ice cream and hot chocolate, plus its soon to be unveiled Festive Collection in the run-up to Christmas.
Speaking to Confectionery Production at last year’s ISM event in Cologne, James Cadbury noted that the search for the right venue had been gathering momentum, and with a firm location now found, he believed there were strong fortunes ahead for the business.
He said: “We are so excited to open our first Love Cocoa store this autumn. We’ve always dreamed of opening a shop, and thanks to Westminster City Council and landlords Places for London, we’re now able to do so in our dream location, in our home city in London. Our own retail space is a real milestone for us as a brand, allowing us to share our sustainably sourced chocolate with more people than ever before, through our retail range of bars and truffles, as well as a brand new Love Cocoa hospitality offer including ice cream and hot chocolate.
“Being part of this exciting initiative gives us the opportunity to deliver unique, sensory chocolate experiences that simply can’t be achieved by shopping online. We see this as a real game changer for the business, and hope it will be the first of many stores to come.”
