BEAN - TO - BAR
I started to look at the different brands of chocolate because I know that there a a few brand that are often the mother company to others and I know that many of the manufacturers churn out many different types of chocolate confections.
Bean-to-bar is something that I found on Wikipedia that lists manufacturers that overlook and control the initial method of getting the cocoa solids from a cocoa bean because this then allows them to make better adaptations as well as controlling the methods in which the chocolate is produced.
Brands that have this capability for farm-tobar believe that having this direct link to cocoa farmers ensures that there is always a supply of work to these people and in turn helps to provide an ethical and sustainable product which is something that is becoming more and more in the interest of the consumer as we are more aware of such issues.
I started by looking at names and manufacturers I had heard of.
CADBURYS / FOUNDED 1824
OWNED BY - Mondelēz International
Cadbury was established in Birmingham in 1824, by John Cadbury who sold tea, coffee and drinking chocolate.
(This links to the fact that chocolate was originally a beverage)
Cadbury is best known for its confectionery products including the Dairy Milk chocolate, the Creme Egg, and the Roses selection box. Dairy Milk chocolate in particular, introduced in 1905, used a higher proportion of milk within the recipe compared with rival products. By 1914, the chocolate was the company's best-selling product. Creme Eggs are made available for sale in the United Kingdom (now available all year) from January of each year until Easter, and are the best-selling confectionary product in the country during the period.
The confectionery business in the UK is called Cadbury (formerly Cadbury Trebor Bassett) and, as of August 2004, had eight factories and 3,000 staff in the UK. Biscuits bearing the Cadbury brand, such as Cadbury Fingers, are produced under licence by Burton's Foods. Cadbury also owns Trebor Bassett, Fry's. Maynards
Ice cream based on Cadbury products, like 99 Flake, is made under licence by Frederick's Dairies. Cadbury cakes and chocolate spread are manufactured under licence by Premier Foods, but the cakes were originally part of Cadbury Foods Ltd with factories at Blackpole in Worcester and Moreton on the Wirral, with distribution depots throughout the UK.
Its really interesting understanding the ties and collaborations this confectioners have and how they keep merging with other brands while remaining integral to the original product. The take over of other well known products such as Trebor bassets (known to me for their mints), Frys's (Turkish delight), Maynards (Jelly confections) is interesting to realise because to the consumer you would resume they were a separate thing.
DIVINE / FOUNDED 1998
45% owned by Kuapa Kokoo, a Fairtrade cocoa farmers cooperative in Ghana.
43% shares are owned by Twin Trading, an alternative trading organization based in London.
12% are owned by Oikocredit, a Dutch microfinance institution.
Divine Chocolate Limited is a leading purveyer of Fairtrade chocolate.
Its first product, launched in October 1998, was Divine milk chocolate. Since then the range has grown to over 50 products, including 12 different flavoured bars, seasonal specialities, chocolate gifts, drinking chocolate and cocoa. Another brand espcially for young people, Dubble, was launched in 2000 in collaboration with Comic Relief. Divine Chocolate in the UK is available in most major supermarkets nationwide, many independent stores, Oxfam, and from the leading wholesalers.
As I had stated before, the awareness of were our product come from and originate has become more important to us an influences many of us in the deceptions we make on a purchase. Because this brand i pretty new to the industry I feel it has most defiantly been made on and has been developed by this awareness and consciousness of us in more privileged societies.
HOTEL CHOCOLAT / FOUNDED 2003
Hotel Chocolat is a British chocolatier and cocoa grower, with over seventy stores in the United Kingdom and five stores within the United States and the Middle East.
Hotel Chocolat is the only company in the United Kingdom to grow cocoa on its own plantation.
In 1998, the Chocolate Tasting Club was launched in Britain, and now currently 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, and each month, these boxes feature "a brand new selection of chocolates including cutting edge, new recipes and timeless classics alike – all made with passion, flair using only the best ingredients and no artificial colours."
(This tasting club is something I would like to look into, I feel it may be an interesting branch to investigate).
In 2003, Choc Express rebranded as Hotel Chocolat and launched its first retail store in the centre of Watford. The company then grew initially to having four stores in the East Anglian area, with stores in Milton Keynes, Cambridge and St Albans opening between 2005 and 2006. A full list of stores can be found on its website (see link). List of Hotel Chocolat stores
In 2006, the company officially acquired the Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia, West Indies, and is, to date, the only company in the UK to own its own cocoa plantation. This plantation is one of the reasons given for the company choosing not to be Fair Trade-accredited, as only smallholdings are allowed. Today, the company has fifty-six stores around the UK, including twelve locations in Central London.
I never realised that this brand of chocolate confectionaries manages its own plantation ensuring the sustainability and economically friendly to the environment the product originated from.
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