Exclusive: Whitakers Chocolates reveals key resilience with BBC’s The One Show appearance

UK-based Whitakers Chocolates has highlighted challenges faced by manufacturers over cocoa pricing volatility impacting the sector in an appearance on the BBC’s The One Show, reports Neill Barston.  

The Yorkshire located business, which has more than 135 years of confectionery heritage, has gained a strong reputation for the quality of its premium ranges and private label work, and has continued to grow after being acquired by fellow British group, Bramble Foods.

Managing director William Whitaker appeared as part of the BBC’e, The One Show this week, explaining that despite considerable tests facing SME manufacturers such as his company, the business has continued, reaffirming its commitment to quality ingredients at a point where some major manufacturers are turning to cheaper chocolate compounds for their confectionery ranges. 

Speaking on the BBC programme, William commented: “It’s been a real challenge (with prices spiking recently), as you can never adjust your pricing fast enough to keep up. You could buy beans in 2023 at around about £3,000 a tonne, but for chocolate in December 2024, the price was nearly £10,000 a tonne. 

“When you are using 1,000 tonnes of chocolate in a year, that’s a huge impact to deal with. I have been here 46 years, and the last two years have been the biggest challenge of my career,” adding that the business had seen some signs of encouragement coming into this year.

He added: “We’ve been in a position to take advantage of cocoa prices coming down, as we have bought all that we need, and we don’t know until September and October what they’ll be for the following year,” explaining that the company had gained much-needed momentum for the year with the installation of a new processing line opening last October, handling its chocolate-coated Brazil nut snacking series.

As Whitakers added, over the past 12–18 months, consumers have increasingly felt the impact of rising cocoa prices and broader cost pressures. This has resulted in noticeable changes across the market: higher retail prices, smaller product sizes, and in some cases, reformulated recipes where cocoa content is reduced or substituted with cheaper alternatives such as palm oil or vegetable fats.

Moreover, this was one of the key lines of focus for the BBC’s feature, which examined how chocolate companies were responding to unpredictable conditions in supply chains.

For its part, Whitakers has retained its core recipes, confirming no reduction in cocoa content, as well as no use of palm oil, or ‘shrinkflation’ of reducing portion sizes as has been seen with many brands in recent years as an increasingly unpopular cost-saving measure. 

As the company observed, rather than cutting back, it has invested heavily in its future. The BBC was given exclusive access to a brand-new nut production facility, located just a mile from the company’s main factory in Skipton, North Yorkshire. This investment represents a strategic shift into a growing luxury confectionery category.

By developing products centred around high-quality ingredients such as Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, Turkish delight, and nougat — all finished with Whitakers’ signature chocolate coating — the business is able to innovate without compromising its chocolate heritage.

This approach allows Whitakers to remain true to its roots while adapting to market pressures in a thoughtful and sustainable way. It also reflects a broader philosophy: that innovation doesn’t have to come at the expense of quality, which Confectionery Production has examined on its own previous site visits to the Yorkshire business, as it seeks to drive forward amid continuing market challenges. 

Having attained BRC AA* production accreditation, the business is seeking to extend its product lines further, with dark chocolate coated Brazil nuts anticipated to be added to its range from this month.