Chococo Chocolates

Chococo Chocolates, an artisan chocolatier born in Dorset in 2002

Chococo Chocolates is an independent chocolate maker based in Dorset, on England's south coast. The company was set up by husband-and-wife team Andy and Claire Burnet and has been producing handcrafted chocolates since December 2002. It presents itself as one of the first UK artisan chocolatiers to combine locally sourced seasonal ingredients with ethically sourced, direct trade single origin chocolate.

The business has grown from small beginnings to employ more than 100 people in the UK. Its output supplies its own Chocolate Houses and website customers as well as premium retailers and corporate clients purchasing gifts.

Fresh, local ingredients and single origin chocolate

The house style rests on fresh, local and seasonal ingredients —local honey, sea salt and alcohols appear among those named— blended with direct trade single origin chocolate. The company states that its chocolate is palm oil-free and that its products contain no additives or preservatives, with all pieces hand-decorated using natural colours.

Beyond boxed chocolates, Chococo also makes its own gelato, hot chocolate and chocolate biscuit cakes, so the range extends across several formats of fine chocolate.

What the catalogue includes

The online shop is organised by category, flavour and occasion. Among the product families listed are:

• Boxed chocolates and chocolate gift boxes, including selection boxes and smaller bites
• Chocolate bars and chocolate slabs
• Hot chocolate and drops for baking
• Hampers, gift bags and letterbox gifts
• Novelty and personalised gifts, plus gift cards and subscriptions
• Vegan and dairy-free options

Flavours are grouped into milk, dark, oat m!lk, blonde, honeycombe and orange chocolate. Seasonal collections appear under Halloween and Christmas, and the range is also sorted by occasion: birthdays, thank-yous, congratulations and anniversaries. Corporate gifts form a separate line. At the time of writing this profile, the catalogue showed items such as Dorset Sea Salt Caramels, a Fresh Chococo Selection Box, Chocolate Dorset Dinosaurs and a Milk Chocolate Mackerel, some of them with discounted prices.

Packaging and environmental projects

The company says it launched its selection boxes without plastic inserts back in 2002, before this became common practice. It now states that 100% of its packaging is plastic-free and either compostable or recyclable. It also reports support for marine conservation and reforestation projects in the UK and Sumatra.

Awards and recognition

Chococo states that it has won 142 national and international fine food awards to date, a figure it repeats across its site. The list shown includes Great Taste awards (one and two stars in several years between 2020 and 2024), an Academy of Chocolate Silver in 2022, a Silver for drinking chocolate at the International Chocolate Awards in 2022, a British Gold at the same competition in 2019, a Dorset Food, Drink & Farming Food & Drink Hero mention in 2019 and a Dorset Business Awards win in 2016. The site also displays a rating of 4.8/5 described as excellent.

Six Chocolate Houses in southern England

In addition to online sales, Chococo runs a chain of shops it calls Chocolate Houses. The Swanage shop on Commercial Road in Dorset is listed first, followed by Winchester (152 High Street, Hampshire), Exeter (22 Gandy Street, Devon), Horsham (42a Carfax, West Sussex), West Dulwich (7 Croxted Road, London) and Westfield Stratford City (Montfichet Road, London).