Love Cocoa to open first physical store

July 30, 2024

Love Cocoa, the luxury sustainable chocolate business founded by James Cadbury, is set to open its first physical store this autumn at 36 South Molton Street, just off Oxford Street. This launch is part of Westminster City Council’s landmark project to rejuvenate the world-class destination.

The ‘Meanwhile On: Oxford Street’ initiative by Westminster City Council aims to provide prime location shops for innovative brands at reduced rent, utilising both vacant spaces and those formerly occupied by low-quality businesses. Since the project’s inception, it has attracted nearly 1,000 applications from new businesses. Love Cocoa’s store is among the first wave of openings under this three-year campaign.

Founded by modern chocolatier and Cadbury descendant, James Cadbury, Love Cocoa is a B Corp certified business dedicated to ethical practices within the chocolate industry. The company uses high-quality cacao sourced from farmers who are fairly compensated. Since its inception in 2016, Love Cocoa has expanded from offering the UK’s first letterbox-friendly chocolate service to a diverse range including truffles, selection boxes, biscuits, and hot chocolate flakes. The brand is known for its sustainable efforts, notably planting 1.8 million trees in the last four years to combat deforestation and climate change.

The new store on South Molton Street promises to attract both London locals and visitors, offering Love Cocoa’s main product range alongside soft-serve ice cream, hot chocolate, and items from the brand’s new Festive Collection.

James Cadbury expressed his enthusiasm for the opening: “We are so excited to open our first Love Cocoa store this autumn. We’ve always dreamed of opening a shop, and thanks to Westminster City Council and landlords Places for London, we’re now able to do so in our dream location, in our home city of London. Our own retail space is a real milestone for us as a brand, allowing us to share our sustainably sourced chocolate with more people than ever before, through our retail range of bars and truffles, as well as a brand new Love Cocoa hospitality offer including ice cream and hot chocolate.

“Being part of this exciting initiative gives us the opportunity to deliver unique, sensory chocolate experiences that simply can’t be achieved by shopping online. We see this as a real game changer for the business, and hope it will be the first of many stores to come.”

The new Love Cocoa store is expected to enhance the shopping experience in the area, contributing to the broader effort to rejuvenate Oxford Street as a premier destination for both retail and innovation.

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