Cadbury descendant launches chocolate gift delivery brand Love Cocoa

Lauren Davidson
30 JUNE 2016
Telegraph UK
Love Cocoa’s six flavours include milk, dark, early grey, mint, honeycomb and sea salt
A descendant of the founder of Cadbury has launched a confectionery company that will deliver chocolate bars through the recipient’s letterbox in a bid to spread the on-demand economy to sweet-toothed gift givers.
Love Cocoa dispatches three or six bars of chocolate in a stylish box that does not need a signature upon receipt.
James Cadbury, the great-great-great-grandson of the legendary chocolatier John Cadbury, came up with the idea when he struggled to find his mother a birthday present.
“I couldn’t find an online service that would deliver chocolate the next day and that fitted through the letterbox. Most retailers require items to be signed for, which ruins the surprise,” he said.
“Plus, you have to pay a hefty delivery charge, and if the recipient is out, the package gets sent back to the post office and needs to be picked up.”
By the time Mr Cadbury gave up the search and sent his mother a handmade card and some chocolate in the post, an idea had formed.
“‘What if I could do this from the comfort of my own home?’ I thought, and I knew I’d spotted a gap in the market for premium letterbox-friendly chocolate gifts.”
The launch of Love Cocoa comes amid growing demand for personalised gifts and next-day delivery for items ordered online.
It follows the success of letterbox-friendly flower delivery service Bloom and Wild, which raised £2.5m in growth capital last year, and food subscription services such as Graze, Pact Coffee and Hello Fresh.
I knew I’d spotted a gap in the market for premium letterbox-friendly chocolate gifts
Love Cocoa, which manufactures the 85g chocolate bars in the UK using organic, fair trade cocoa that has been ethically sourced from the Dominican Republic and Ecuador, charges £13.95 for a box of three or £21.95 for six.
Mr Cadbury said that working with independent British businesses was a central part of the Love Cocoa brand. He has partnered with Maldon Sea Salt, the London-based honey producer Barnes & Webb and the Basingstoke mint farm Summerdown Mint.
The six varieties available in the initial range include milk, dark, and earl grey, as well as mint, sea salt and honeycomb flavours.
The 30-year-old entrepreneur is on the lookout for an independent distillery and a small coffee roaster for the creation of his next two flavours: gin and tonic, and coffee.
Love Cocoa
Love Cocoa delivers chocolate in a letterbox-friendly package
Mr Cadbury, who co-founded property crowdfunding website Property Moose and worked as a trader at a pension scheme until December, has invested between £30,000 and £40,000 of personal savings into the business.
He plans to launch a crowdfunding campaign in two to three months to raise further cash in order to expand the business, with the introduction of a chocolate subscription club and a move into bricks and mortar stores.
“Graze, the snack boxes, started as an online-only service and then moved into shops,” he said. “I expect that Love Cocoa would be in more upmarket shops such as John Lewis and other high-end department stores, rather than supermarkets. And potentially after that we could open our own concept stores.”