Kiss Me, Close Your Eyes
& Miss Me, Close Your Eyes
And Kiss Me,
I Can Read Your Lips
On Your Fingertips
I Can Feel Your Smile
Come On My Lips
And Happiness In Your Eyes
Kiss Me, Close Your Eyes!
Apart from your high school crush, what do the lyrics of this song remind you of? And you have the name of one of the oldest chocolate brands on your lips!
The Cadbury family once owned this chocolate business which has now evolved into a corporate giant no longer owned or controlled by the founder family.
So, a descendent of the First Cadbury decided to step into the chocolate business again to take back what his ancestors once owned, regain his family’s control over the chocolate manufacturing kingdoms, and sit the chocolaty iron throne again!
The story was sweet all right but was it sweet enough to get the bitterly blunt Dragons to swallow it?
Love Cocoa at a Glance:
| Idea | Premium and eco-friendly chocolate manufacturing |
| Founders | James Cadbury |
| Asked For | £75,000 For 5% |
| Accepted Deal | £75,000 For 20% conditionally reducible to 15% |
| Dragon | Tej Lalvani |
| Business status | Active |
| Episode No. | Season 16, Episode 11 |
Index:
What is Love Cocoa?
Love Cocoa is a chocolate manufacturing company founded in 2016 by the great-great-great-grandson of John Cadbury, who founded the chocolate maker Cadbury.
The company has since captured an impressive market share in the premium segment of the chocolate industry in a short time. It offers a variety of innovative flavors for customers to indulge in.
Love Cocoa has made it its mission to make its chocolate climate positive. The company has been in a healthy position financially since the beginning. It is on its way to becoming a big player in the industry.
Who is The Founder Of Love Cocoa?
James Cadbury, the founder of Love Cocoa completed his bachelor’s degree from the University of Liverpool. He also has a master’s degree in commercial property management from Liverpool John Moores University.
He worked as an analyst in multinational banking firms for seven years before setting up Love Cocoa in 2016. He is vocal about his concern about climate change and has been contributing to the cause regularly. In 2020, he founded H!P, a vegan chocolate brand producing oat milk chocolate.
He has sworn to restore his family legacy lost in the hostile takeover of Cadbury by Mondelez International( then Kraft Foods).
Did Love Cocoa Get A Deal On Dragons’ Den?
James Cadbury entered the Den with the weight of his last name on his shoulders, this made him quite nervous but this was compensated by his soft-spoken words and the notorious taste of his chocolates.
Dragons got impressed by the first look at the person named Cadbury.
The scrutiny of the Dragons followed and it was revealed that James owned just 53% of the business and this was topped by the fact that Love Cocoa was most probably the target of an upcoming legal blitzkrieg by Mondelez International.
This reduced the Dragon count for Love Cocoa in the Den from five to two. Tej Lalwani and Peter Jones offered James £75,000 for 20% equity in the company.
Eventually, Tej agreed to conditionally reduce his stake to 15% but Peter didn’t budge.
James accepted Tej’s offer and successfully secured an investment at the Den. Peter congratulated Tej for making this deal because of the good prospects of the business demonstrated and the similarly resonating persona of the founder.
What Happened to Love Cocoa After Dragons’ Den?
The deal made by James and Tej at the Den never closed. Even after several rounds of business meetings, the two could not agree.
Nonetheless, Love Cocoa gained the publicity it needed to spark nationalism in British chocolate lovers resulting in the revenue gliding from £400,000 at the time of its Dragons’ Den featuring to £2 Million in 2021.
In 2020, James launched H!P Chocolate, a brand that sells vegan chocolates made of oat milk. Exports are on the rise for the company with international sales amounting to 30% of the entire business.
Love Cocoa is currently limited to being a premium segment brand or a gifting product with no visible intent to rival the likes of Cadbury or Mars, which initially seemed to be the main motive of the founder bearing the name Cadbury himself.
In 2023, the company secured an investment of £4.25 Million from venture capitalist Richard Koch. Love Cocoa plans to use this fund in three segments
- Setting up brick-and-mortar stores under the Love Cocoa brand.
- Ramping up the distribution of H!P Chocolate.
- Investing in the growth of its senior management.
Product Details:
- Love Cocoa is a premium chocolate brand.
- It offers a huge variety of flavors aimed specifically at GenZ.
- It is claimed to be a climate-positive chocolate.
- It offers vegan chocolates under the brand H!P.
- It has specific products aimed at gifting, both personal and corporate.
- The product is available globally, orderable through the Love Cocoa website.
Competitors of Love Cocoa:
The chocolate business in the UK has been completely saturated for many years now with most of the market share preoccupied by corporate leviathans offering little or virtually no room for any new players but the Love Cocoa founder’s extremely rich family history places his company in a sweet spot altogether.
Love Cocoa currently competes with the following brands in the premium chocolate segment:
The list is never ending but the most prominent names have been included above.
What Is The Net Worth of Love Cocoa?
James Cadbury put forth an astounding valuation of £1.5 Million before the Dragons on which he was harshly questioned and his method of valuation was rightly ridiculed.
Tej and Peter valued Love Cocoa at £375,000. This valuation was agreed upon by James when he accepted Tej’s revised conditional offer.
As of 2023, the net worth of the London-based chocolate company stood at £10 Million, the firm received a £4.25 Million investment from a venture capitalist at the same valuation.
Is Love Cocoa Still In Business?
Love Cocoa is not just in business as of 2023 but expanding at a great speed and the same stands for its vegan chocolate brand H!P.
Love Cocoa has established itself in the premium chocolate and gifting segments in the industry. H!P on the other hand has established itself in the health-conscious segment.
Though the company has expanded manifold, we still think that it has not been able to capitalize on the fact that the founder bears the name of one of the oldest chocolate manufacturers in the world.
The window for utilization of the Cadbury story seems to be gone, leaving little or no hope for Love Cocoa to restore the Cadbury family’s glory!
We hope that Love Cocoa lives up to the legacy of its founder’s name but the animal spirits suggest otherwise.
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FAQs:
Is Love Cocoa owned by Cadbury?
Love Cocoa is owned by a person named James Cadbury who is the great-great-great-grandson of John Cadbury, who was the founder of the present-day Cadbury company as well. However, the company has no relation to the present-day Cadbury company which is owned by Mondelez International.
What's the net worth of Love Cocoa ?
Love Cocoa’s net worth stands at £10 Million as of 2023 and the company has secured investments at the same valuation in the same year from venture capitalists as well.
