Introducing innovation to the British Chocolate Industry

The British Chocolate Industry has experienced significant change. The globalisation that saw historic British firms acquired by multinational corporations, and the consequent move of production to lower cost bases in Eastern Europe.

When small is beautiful

As all this consolidation was taking place, consumer tastes shifted toward premium, ethical, and artisan chocolate. Concerns over sustainability, fair trade, and cocoa sourcing have become central to the modern industry.

While multinational corporations consolidate production in Eastern Europe and Asian companies invest in industrial-scale facilities, a quieter revolution bubbles away in kitchens, converted farm buildings, and small factories across Britain. Artisan chocolate makers, working in batches measured in kilograms rather than tonnes, are reimagining what British chocolate can be.

Essex-based chocolatiers Linden Lady have been supplying the Houses of Parliament Shops with their products for many years, with the family-owned company passionate about producing exceptional chocolate using time-proven techniques. Founded in 1994, Linden Lady represents the kind of small-scale, quality-focused operation that’s increasingly defining British chocolate’s identity.

From bean-to-bar

The pinnacle of artisan chocolate making is “bean-to-bar”, controlling the entire process from raw cocoa beans to finished chocolate. Established in 2014, Simon Doble and Margie Bignall began creating small batch artisan chocolate directly from imported, fairly traded, cocoa beans in the Cotswolds, with making ‘Bean to Bar’ chocolate still a rare occurrence, particularly in the UK, as most chocolate manufacturers use pre-made cocoa liquor or chocolate couverture.

Duffy Sheardown, a former Formula One engineer, started a unique chocolate business in Lincolnshire, England. In 2008, after hearing a radio broadcast about the lack of bean-to-bar chocolate makers in England, he decided to try chocolate making himself. During a holiday in Guatemala, he bought cocoa beans and spent 18 months learning. In 2010, he opened a small factory and launched Duffy’s Chocolate, becoming the UK’s first small artisan chocolate maker.

Sheardown sources 90% of his cocoa beans directly from farmers, focusing on the best beans, and paying farmers well above fair-trade prices. It takes four days to make just 30kg of chocolate, and each batch is aged for up to three months.

The contrast with industrial production is stark. Where a large corporation processes hundreds of tonnes monthly, Duffy’s makes 30 kilograms in four days. What they sacrifice in scale, they gain in control, quality, and distinctiveness.

Craft chocolate faces economic realities that heritage brands and industrial players don’t. Producing 30 kilograms in four days rather than 30 tonnes in four hours means dramatically higher per-unit costs.

The Future

The craft chocolate movement faces an uncertain future. The 2024 cocoa crisis squeezed margins when small makers could least afford it. HFSS regulations, while not directly targeting premium chocolate, created broader consumer wariness about chocolate as “unhealthy indulgence” that affects all segments.

By Peter Foy

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