‘Ice cream of the Gods’ lifts Hotel Chocolat sales to £100m

HOTEL Chocolat sales have broken the £100m barrier for the first time as its “Ice Cream of the Gods” boosted the business during the recent heatwave.

The upmarket chocolate retailer recorded a 12pc increase in sales to £104m for the year to June 25, slightly ahead of market expectations.

Angus Thirlwell, co-founder and chief executive, said that chocolate sales had followed a typical pattern of dipping during the hot weather, but its new ice-cream product, launched in 37 of its shops, had helped to bolster sales. Mr Thirlwell said that there had been no change in consumer spending, despite nervousness about shoppers tightening their belts as shop prices begin to rise again.

The chocolate boss said that Hotel Chocolat had not increased its prices “and don’t have any plans to do so”. He added that the company hadn’t taken part in any “choc-shrinkage”, in a direct swipe at commercial rivals such as Mondelez, which became embroiled in a huge backlash after changing the shape of its triangle-shaped Toblerone to cover rising commodity costs.

Wayne Brown, a Liberum analyst, said: “Trading in the second half has led to another upgrade, continuing the strong performance since its initial public offering.” Hotel Chocolat floated last year in a £167m listing after its shares were priced at 148p. Since then, store openings have driven sales higher and it has more than doubled its share price to 330p.