Hotel Chocolat’s profits have overtaken older rival Thorntons’ for the first time in its history in the biggest sign of the public’s shift in chocolate tastes.
The chocolatier, which launched 11 years ago and has 81 stores across the country, saw pre-tax profits jump 306% to £6.6 million in the six months to December 28, on sales rising 9.5% to £47.2 million.
By comparison, Thorntons, which issued a shock Christmas profit warning as two major supermarkets substantially reduced their orders, posted pre-tax profits of £6.6 million on sales of £128.2 million in the six months to January 10.
Hotel Chocolat’s chief executive and co-founder, Angus Thirlwell, suggested consumers were becoming more discerning in their chocolate choices.
“It’s about quality over quantity,” he said. “Our big theme is healthy luxury, which is trying to reconcile hedonism and opulence and treating yourself with also being responsible.
“Cocoa is healthy, it’s just the sugar that’s not and we’re seeing less sugar and more cocoa is really starting to resonate with people.”
Stores at train stations across the capital have boosted sales, with Thirlwell noting that commuters are particularly keen to treat themselves when there are delays.
He also insisted that although Hotel Chocolat’s products are considerably more expensive than supermarket chocolates, the cost per gram of cocoa was similar.
Thirlwell vowed that he would not start selling the brand through supermarkets, as Thorntons has done, but has set up concessions in John Lewis stores.
In 2007 one of Thorntons’ master chocolatiers was forced to resign after he started squashing truffles on display at a Hotel Chocolat branch.
There was some disappointment for the company in the past year, when it was forced to pull out of the US, closing stores in New Jersey and Boston.
Thirlwell said the company still had ambitions for the US, but was reassessing its strategy.
He added that its own plantation and hotel in St Lucia had been particularly popular with “sophisticated” Americans.
