Chantal Coady Founder of Rococo Chocolates
In 1983, at the age of 23 Chantal Coady dared to follow her dream: to share with others her love for chocolate. Nearly three decades, three shops in London's Chelsea, Marylebone and Belgravia and on March 5th 2012 the first shop outside London was opened in the beautiful historic Chester. Many, many delicious chocolates later, she has certainly shared her dream with thousands of customers from around the world.
She is also the founder of Real Chocolate and The Chocolate Society.
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| Chantal Coady at Rococo Chocolate |
The UK boasts some of the finest chocolatiers in the business but very few of them happen to be women. Chocolate has come a long way in the last 20 years and fine chocolate is now more popular than ever. For Chantal it remains the living embodiment of a dream she first had as a child. She has lost none of the enthusiasm of her early years and remains as innovative and driven as she was the first time she opened the doors to her flagship store in London's Motcomb Street. “I have always loved chocolate, ever since I can remember. Being one of five children there never seemed quite enough of it to go round but then I guess that made my desire for it all the greater.
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| Rococo Chocolate on Motcomb Street |
Although Chantal’s training at university was originally in textile design, she opened Rococo almost immediately after graduating and has made it her one and only career, you can still see the influence of her design background in the packaging and the design of the shops, with the store on the King’s Road having become something of an icon in the area.
“Since those early days I have seen a lot of changes but even though there has been a great deal of expansion in the specialist chocolate market, to a certain extent it still remains a food area still waiting to be completely discovered. Most people are now aware of the differences between fine chocolate and the industrial candy that they were brought up on.”
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| The beautiful packaging at Rococo Chocolate |
Naturally, as any decent chocolatier will tell you, you need good beans to make good chocolate and Chantal is confident that her crop comes from some of the best around.
“Rococo has a small cocoa farm in Grenada in the Caribbean, which is a joint venture with The Grenada Chocolate Company. It is part of a co-operative group of organic cocoa farms; all of them have a share in the Grenada Chocolate Company. Furthermore, all the chocolate is ethically farmed and produced."
http://www.rococochocolates.com/info/How_We_Care
If you happen to take a trip along the King’s Road in London, Rococo will stand out and just a glance through the window will reveal some of the most wonderful creations one can imagine.
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| Excerpted from Chocolate: or, An Indian Drinke. The Wise and Moderate Use Whereof Health is Preserved and Sicknesse Diverted: http://www.rococochocolates.com/ |
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