Cutting through to a new future for St Lucia’s cocoa growers

March 2008

Today, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales cut the first ground for a rather special chocolate factory in St Lucia.

‘Special’ because it turns normal industry practise on its head. Rather than exporting only the commodity crop - the cocoa bean - and adding all the value in an industrialised nation, this factory will create a new value chain inside this small Caribbean state, by exporting the finished chocolate product.

The factory will produce high-end gourmet chocolate made from single estate and single origin beans grown on St Lucia. Hotel Chocolat, the British chocolate brand behind this enterprise, has set up a St Lucian business for this investment, staffed with locals and led by Phil Buckley, an engineer turned cocoa-expert from Manchester.

Speaking from Rabot Estate, Hotel Chocolat’s own cocoa estate set between the statuesque Pitons on St Lucia’s West Coast, Phil Buckley said “Apart from the cocoa we grow here, we now have 49 local cocoa farmers supplying their cocoa to us. Some of them are here today to share in the excitement of this next stage of our cocoa adventure.”

Local cocoa grower, John Modeste, present at the groundbreaking ceremony stated “Hotel Chocolat have breathed new life into cocoa growing. Now I know I have a dependable market for my cocoa and am paid a fair price, promptly. In fact I am planting more cocoa and have taken on extra workers to help harvest as much as I can”.

Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder of Hotel Chocolat, said “In advance of the chocolate factory being completed it is important to develop a market for St Lucian chocolate, which up until now has been unknown amongst gourmet consumers. To address this we have been investing in marketing and sampling the products both in the UK and the US. I am pleased to say that we have just scooped 3 awards at the World Chocolate Awards,so this a very promising start.”

Note: until the chocolate factory is completed at the end of 2009, the St Lucia beans are being converted into chocolate in Europe.

The chocolate factory will also host a ‘Sensory Immersion in Chocolate’ experience for visitors. All parts of the journey from cocoa bean to super premium chocolate will be there to engage in, offering a unique adventure for the senses and the mind.

“We are on a mission to bring chocolate lovers into direct contact with the bean and all that goes into making fine chocolate. Once they have been here we are confident they will become supporters of true, high quality chocolate rather than the over-sweetened product that dominates the market. This is true agro-tourism that will also help shape consumers’ behaviour in a more sustainable way”, said Angus Thirlwell.

The factory’s location is set amongst the cocoa fields of Rabot Estate and will respect the natural environment around it, with solar power and rain harvesting amongst some of the energy saving attributes.

Once the chocolate factory has been built and is operating with commercial viability, the next stage will be embarked upon, to create the real Hotel Chocolat.

This will be a boutique eco-lodge hotel set high up on a ridge at Rabot Estate, enabling guests to experience the restful beat of time as cocoa pods ripen in the sun around them and the gentle breeze rustles the leaf canopy. The accent will also be on the wellness benefits of cocoa, with cocoa nib exfoliation, cocoa butter moisturising massages and a menu drawing on the savoury heritage of cocoa as well as amazing chocolate drinks and desserts.