Extraordinary taste, sustainability and social impacts

This event takes place in the British Library Theatre and will be simultaneously live streamed on the British Library platform. Tickets may be booked either to attend in person, or to watch on our platform (online) either live or within 48 hours on catch up. Viewing links will be sent out shortly before the event.

The online version of this event will be live captioned.

Chantal Coady, founder of Rococo Chocolate and The Chocolate Detective, is joined by Nick Davis, a grower in Jamaica, and Angus Thirlwell of Hotel du Chocolat to explore the dynamics of producing ethical, delicious chocolate and its huge impact on the local communities. Hosted by Leyla Kazim of The Food Programme.

With chocolate tastings available for those attending the event in-person.

Chantal Coady is the mother of the artisan chocolate industry in the UK and the real chocolate revolution. Having established luxury brand Rococo four decades ago, she now heads up The Chocolate Detective, leading the way in engaged ethics and sustainability. In the early part of the century she entered into a joint venture organic farm with Grenada Chocolate Company, directly supporting the organic cocoa farmers, who for the first time were able to become chocolate makers themselves and create real value in the local economy. She is a multi-award winner and author of five books.

Nick Davis started One-One Cacao after interviewing one of the founders of the Grenada Chocolate Company, Mott Green. He was working as the BBC’s Caribbean Correspondent when he investigated a sustainable cocoa farming co-operative in the east of the region. Soon a hobby became a fully fledged business. He now has a small award-winning manufactory on the North coast of Jamaica that sources, ferments and dries cocoa from across the island and works hands on with individual farmers and co-ops.

Angus Thirlwell founded Hotel Chocolat in 2004, alongside his business partner Peter Harris, with three guiding principles that remain central to the brand’s success today – authenticity, originality and ethics. The aim was to create chocolate that would excite the senses of everyone who tried it and since day one the mantra which Thirlwell lives by is: ‘more cocoa, less sugar.’ To say that Angus is passionate about cocoa is an understatement. From a cacao farm in Saint Lucia to a London cocoa cuisine restaurant, Hotel Chocolat links all aspects of chocolate from the tree to consumer.

Leyla Kazim is a travel and food presenter, journalist and digital creator, part of the core presenting team on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning The Food Programme and has been a judge for the prestigious annual BBC Food & Farming Awards since 2019. Leyla co-created Lonely Planet’s book: The Ultimate Eatlist, The World’s Top 500 Food Experiences (2018) and was a TV judge on Channel 4’s 2019 cooking competition show Beat The Chef. Leyla shares her global stories through a number of online and print publications, her blog and social media platforms.

If you’re attending in person, please arrive no later than 15 minutes before the start time of this event. We are committed to the safety of our event bookers. Find out how we are welcoming you to the Library safely.

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