Hotel Chocolat drinks help chain to sweeter sales

Britain's chocolate-lovers are increasingly hitting the bottle according to Hotel Chocolat boss Angus Thirlwell, who said the recently-listed chain is struggling to keep up with demand for its booze products.

Thirlwell said ‘cocoa cuisine’ products like Salted Caramel Cocoa Vodka and Cocoa Gin have been flying off the shelves.

“I don’t know whether people have been sitting at home and having an extra shot with their chocolate or not… [but] we’ve been having to remake batches to keep the lines in stock.”

Their popularity helped the company, which debuted on AIM in May at 148p, beat expectations with full year sales of £92.6 million, a 12% rise on the year before. Digital sales rose by 20%.

Thirlwell was unfazed by talk of a Brexit-induced recession and recent data showing slumping consumer confidence.

“Nobody looks forward to a potential recession but we’ve been through several before. As usual, we feel like we have got a number of levers of control under our hands. There is a lot we can do to jazz things up if required as well as our currently laid down plans.”

He added that Britain’s decision to leave the European Union would not necessitate any change to those plans, which include a roll-out of its café format and more of its traditional boutiques.

“We looked again at all strategies and we remain totally committed to them.”

Shares rose 4.5p to 180p.