Recession apart, we still like chocolate

Co-Founder Peter Harris explains the continued success of Hotel Chocolat, a company that is maintaining its steady growth rate despite the recession. Innovation, authenticity and ethics were keystones of his message to his Cambridge Leadership Seminars audience of MBAs. Paramount was the importance of listening and understanding what customers are saying. Hotel Chocolat is a privately owned company and is one of the world's few chocolate makers to grow cocoa. It launched the world's first Chocolate Bond in 2010, with the 'interest' paid in monthly chocolate, raising £4m to help fund initiatives in the UK, United States and Saint Lucia.