OUR STORY

ISLANDS CHOCOLATE LAUNCHED IN 2018 BUT IT ALL STARTED FROM OUR COCOA.

Back in 2011, there was a chance meeting of like minds with a dream of re-generating a cocoa industry in St Vincent, a far-flung but beautiful Caribbean Island. Recognising the little amount of cocoa grown there was some of the highest quality in the world, fascinated by such a beautiful crop and wanting to make a real difference to people’s lives on the ground, the Saint Vincent Company (SVCC) was born. 

Starting from scratch, the early years were very tough going and in 2014 the initiative was close to fizzling out. Fortunately, the Marriott family took over the company, recognising a unique opportunity to expand the business to a viable scale by planting our own cocoa rather than simply relying on buying in cocoa from farmers. Prized for its flavour and ethical assurances, we started selling our cocoa to several UK-based artisan chocolatiers.

Our first foray into chocolate started in 2015, when we set up a small kitchen and started making chocolate from our beans for sale locally in St Vincent.  This really took off and we moved to a professional kitchen in Kingstown, from where we still operate.

Meanwhile, back in the UK, Wilf Marriott had decided to shelve his boyhood dream of becoming a professional cricketer, more drawn towards the fledgling family business.  After spells at several chocolate companies, a commodity trader and an international cocoa company, he took on the sales role at SVCC.  

However, he soon realised our cocoa was far too good to sell and explored getting it professionally made into chocolate in Europe for sale in the UK.  Moreover, whilst researching the business plan, the more appalled he became with the norm of cheap poor-quality chocolate, devoid of traceability as well as the profiteering of huge multi-national companies and their well-publicised ingrained links to poverty, slavery, child labour and deforestation in some of the poorest growing countries.  

Recognising the rarity of the superior quality and ethical guarantees we could offer, Wilf proposed to his family that we sold none of our cocoa and instead, craft chocolate in a truly unique seed-to-bar concept. In 2018, this brave proposition became a reality with the launch of Islands Chocolate. 

On finding the typical chocolate bar route very crowded, initially we focussed on those that would recognise quality and taste most – chefs.  We were soon supplying some of the UK’s finest Michelin star restaurants such as Tom Kerridge, Marcus Wearing, Heston Blumenthal, and still do.  Hot chocolate followed shortly thereafter in the form of chocolate buttons into some well-known artisan bakeries such as GAIL’s.  More recently, we have developed a range of powders for hot chocolate and now supply many baristas direct as well as an increasing number of coffee roasters such as Clifton and Union.  For this we have sourced additional beans direct from several local farmers in the Dominican Republic – whilst not actually growing these beans ourselves, we do regularly travel to meet up with the two producers we have partnered with as well as most of the farmers who supply them. The most recent stage in our journey has been an exciting move into the retail market with our rebranding and tins; already we are stocked by iconic retailers Fortnum & Mason, Liberty's, Ocado and Harrods.

Our aim has remained the same throughout; an opportunity to buy truly delicious and ethical cocoa products, safe in the knowledge that this is making a real difference at source.