Hotel Chocolat has unveiled its latest retail concept in Manchester, opening a two-floor store on Cross Street that combines immersive experiences with its signature chocolate offerings. The launch marks what the business describes as an “immersive new chapter of chocolate” for the city.
The new site incorporates elements of café culture, storytelling, and education on ethical cacao farming. Across its two levels, visitors can explore a range of features designed to connect them to the origins of chocolate, including a molten chocolate tap and a curated menu of drinking chocolates. As part of its collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University’s Design & Illustration students, the store also displays original artworks interpreting the cacao journey from the company’s Rabot Estate in Saint Lucia to Manchester.
Among the experiences on offer is the ‘Cacao Cam’, which gives customers a live-style view of the brand’s Saint Lucian cacao farm via a telescope, accompanied by sound buttons playing the island’s wildlife, including tree frogs and the Saint Lucian parrot. The store also features an ‘Agroforestry Wall’ behind the café, illustrating biodiversity and the brand’s nature-positive farming ethos.
The Manchester site is the only UK location where customers can build a personalised Velvetiser drinking chocolate box, selecting from a library of flavours. A ‘Social Table’ has been installed as a central point for sampling and conversation, while a ‘Wall of Chocolate’ offers over 100 recipes with interactive digital guides and a 3 for £14 mix-and-match option. The downstairs exhibition space serves as a collection point for online orders and a venue for events such as chocolate tempering and storytelling.
The in-store Velvetiser Café serves the brand’s signature drinking chocolates, alongside baked goods from its Boar Lane and Artisan Bakeries. Exclusive to the Manchester location are items like the Tasting Trio, pairing three drinking chocolates with 70% Classic batons; Sip & Savour, which matches four chocolates with a drink of choice; and the Chocolate Shot, where molten chocolate is poured over desserts or ice cream. New chocolate taps have been installed to enhance these experiences.
Hotel Chocolat states that the store is designed to share its approach to ethical cacao production, developed at its Saint Lucian estate. The model focuses on regenerative farming methods aimed at creating a sustainable future for chocolate that benefits both nature and farming communities. Seating areas throughout the store allow visitors to enjoy chocolate flights, sundaes, or find their favourite chocolates through the Love Match quiz.
