Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier and cocoa grower, co founded by CEO Angus Thirlwell.There are over one hundred shops in the United Kingdom and 31 stores in Japan. Hotel Chocolat is the only company in the United Kingdom to grow cocoa on its own farm.

In 1988, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris began designing and selling mints as “MMC,” before moving to chocolates about six years later. Rebranded as “Geneva Chocolates”, the current co-founders of Hotel Chocolat adapted trade to the catalogue-based world and before long, had steered towards the name “Chocolate Express”.

In 1998, the Chocolate Tasting Club was launched in Britain; as of 2014, it has around 100,000 members. To date, the Tasting Club has trialled over 1,500 different recipes. As detailed on their website, the Chocolate Tasting Club sends out boxes to customers all over the country each month.

In 2003, Chocolate Express rebranded as Hotel Chocolat and launched its first retail store in the centre of Watford. The company then grew initially to have 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 farm. This farm is one of the reasons given for the company choosing not to be Fair Trade-accredited, as only smallholdings are allowed.

In 2011, Hotel Chocolat opened its Boucan Hotel in Saint Lucia. The hotel sits on the Rabot Estate which is perched high up between the Piton mountains. The hotel currently has six lodges and a cocoa-inspired Boucan Restaurant.

In November 2013, Hotel Chocolat opened two UK restaurants, Rabot 1745 in London’s Borough Market, and Roast + Conch in Leeds.

In May 2016, Hotel Chocolat became listed on the London Stock Exchange as Hotel Chocolat Group PLC

In August 2017, Hotel Chocolat opened its first stores in the Republic of Ireland in Dundrum, Dublin