Have Your Say
Full Transparency
We are absolutely passionate about the work we are doing in St Lucia and Ghana, and we have provided full transparency here for our customers and our staff, so that you can understand and evaluate for yourselves what we are doing.
Progressive Debate
We regularly speak at professional and academic forums, so that we can be challenged at the highest levels; in this way we can ensure that our approach stays at the forefront of current thinking.
If you would like to comment on any aspect of our Engaged Ethics programme then please enter into the debate by contacting us here. We look forward to hearing from you.
If you are part of a professional or academic organisation with a suitable agenda for progressive debate then we would be pleased to hear from you. Contact our People & Ethics Director here.
Speaking Events by Hotel Chocolat
November 2007
Co-Founder Angus Thirlwell addressed the Academy of Chocolate on the theme of Cocoa Adventures in St Lucia.
“We all thoroughly enjoyed the news update and were also impressed with Rabot Estate chocolate style. Also interesting and predictable that such ‘origin’ chocolate should vary from bar to bar.”
Sara Jayne Stanes OBE, Director Academy of Chocolate & Director Academy of Culinary Arts
February 2008 Lynn Cunningham, People & Ethics Director, spoke at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies to students on the MSc programme in Globalisation & Development. The talk described Hotel Chocolat’s Engaged Ethics programmes in Ghana and St Lucia, where students debated the relative merits of such an ethical trading initiative against the more widely known Fair Trade movement. February 2008 At the London School of Economics, Lynn Cunningham met with students of the MSc in NGOs and Development, and Social Policy and Development. Lynn outlined the development programmes that Hotel Chocolat has undertaken in Ghana and St Lucia. Discussion followed on the relationship between Hotel Chocolat and its partner NGO, as well as the relationship with the St Lucian government. Students were keen to understand the initiation and development of the relationship as well as the ongoing accountability of the NGO. |  |
“We are very grateful to Lynn for coming to LSE and explaining the work of Hotel Chocolat. Her presentation was thoughtful and engaging and was very much appreciated by our students on the NGOs and Development course.”
Dr Ben Jones, Department of Social Policy
“I just wanted to comment on the recent presentation by Lynn Cunningham of Hotel Chocolat. I found her presentation to be both informative and sincere. With her candid comments and reflective manner, she was able to relate the spirit of corporate social responsibility very well. I think that the students gained a lot from being able to put a face to a corporate campaign, as well as being able to ask her questions that solicited a great debate.”
Patrick Reyburn, LSE student
April 2008 Hotel Chocolat hosted a visit to Rabot Estate by HRH The Prince of Wales. The theme was Sustainable Enterprise and a 40 minute discourse on the subject covered agro-tourism, youth employment, social responsibility and free enterprise. The visit was hosted by Hotel Chocolat’s Angus Thirlwell, Peter Harris, Edwin Thirlwell, Phil Buckley, Judy Buckley, Marius Felix and Alphonus Stanislas. |  |
October 2008
At Cranfield University’s Alumni Grand Reunion, Angus will tell the story of Hotel Chocolat's unique Engaged Ethics project in the cocoa growing areas of St Lucia - why it is sustainable and why they decided not to go down the Fair Trade route. With more than 50 local cocoa farmers now part of the Hotel Chocolat programme, the benefits are very tangible. Angus hosted a visit there this year by HRH The Prince of Wales who wanted to see for himself how the future of cocoa growing is being reshaped in this small West Indian island.
“As a high-profile past participant of the Business Growth and Development Programme (BGP) (www.cranfield.ac.uk/som/bgp), Angus regularly returns as a guest speaker. His talks are inspiring and visionary. In particular, Hotel Chocolat’s Engaged Ethics programme in St Lucia always provokes a lot of interest as it demonstrates how business and social objectives can work together in a sustainable way.”
Gerard Burke, Director, Business Growth and Development Programme (BGP), Cranfield School of Management
