The first British chocolate bar is said to have been Fry’s Chocolate Cream, which hit the shelves in 1847. Until this time, chocolate had been an elite treat; a symbol of wealth, luxury and power. Bristol-based chocolate maker, J. S. Fry & Sons wanted to bring chocolate to the masses and their Chocolate Cream Bar was a hit.
Rival firm Cadbury came up with their own bar soon afterwards and quickly earned themselves a Royal Warrant as purveyors of chocolate to Queen Victoria. The nation was officially smitten with chocolate.
Here, we take a look at the leading British chocolatiers of the day.
Rococo
Rococo has been making chocolate in the UK for 35 years and they do it so well that founder Chantal Jane Coady was made OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2014 for services to chocolate making. Rococo’s distinctive packaging and witty ideas make for failsafe presents throughout the year. Recipients are always thrilled. Hot tip: we are particular fans of their Praline Quails Eggs.
Pump Street Chocolate
Pump Street was founded by a father and daughter duo in 2010. From their award-winning bakery on Suffolk’s heritage coast, the Pump Street team crafts chocolate from beans they import directly from single estates and cooperatives around the world. They are the very proud winners of stacks of awards, including the BBC Food and Farming Awards Best Food Producer 2012 and the Observer Food Monthly Best Food Producer in 2022.
Melt Chocolates
Louise Nason set up Melt in Notting Hill in 2005. Her guiding principle was ‘the pursuit of health and happiness for her children, family, friends, and neighbours’. The family-owned company prides itself on its daily artisanal production of luxurious handmade chocolates, which come in perky colourful packets. Best of all, Melt has a kitchen in its shop so you can actually see your truffles as they come into existence.
Chococco
This independent chocolate brand from Dorset has won over 120 national and international fine food awards so far. Concern for the environment is at the heart of what they do, so much so that when they launched in 2002, their selection boxes had no plastic inserts, which was pretty much unheard of at the time. The Easter Bunny could not better their Easter Chocolate Hamper Bag.
Hotel Chocolat
This mega-brand opened its doors in 2004, on a mission to make chocolate exciting again. Today, they have 126 UK shops, as well as cafés, restaurants and outlets, 40 stores in Japan and a luxury eco-hotel on their working cacao farm in the Caribbean. They say: ‘We are on a continual journey of development and growth, yet everything we do is still guided by the three basic values that we started with – originality, authenticity and ethics – and it always will be.’
Paul A Young
This ground-breaking and inspirational London chocolatier is among the world’s greatest. His roster of awards reads like a supermarket receipt. His team says: ‘Paul has a reputation as an incredibly creative flavour alchemist whose flavour combinations are original, experimental, sometimes daring, yet always perfectly balanced.’ His exquisite handmade creations contain no compounds, concentrates, essences, preservatives or additives. The man is a genius.
By Becky Ladenburg
March 2023
