https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2 The innovative chocolate company with a taste for ethical trading Following a trip to South America, Simon and Helen Pattinson swapped their lives as City lawyers to run a fairly traded chocolate company. By Kate Hilpern en-us 2021-04-18 13:28:55 UTC 2025-11-16 07:44:44 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.net/icons/png/1f970.png TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429898400 Montezuma’s chocolate has been described as a "stroke of genius" and "a taste of paradise". On tucking into a piece of their dried mango dipped in white chocolate flavoured with lime and chilli, it’s difficult to argue with these compliments. In fact, it’s difficult to do anything but concentrate on the remarkable flavours exploding in your mouth.

]]> 2021-04-18 13:30:35 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429898400 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429898708 "Our aim was to create a chocolate company that was really innovative, good quality and interestingly packaged," says founder, Simon Pattinson. "Despite all the chocolate providers in the UK, I still don’t think that exists elsewhere. At one end of the spectrum, you’ve got cheap and cheerful chocolate bars and at the other end, you have boutique chocolate shops - we try to sit comfortably in the middle."

]]> 2021-04-18 13:30:50 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429898708 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429898815 A decade ago, Pattinson hadn’t a clue about the chocolate industry. "My wife, Helen, and I were both City lawyers and were getting increasingly dissatisfied with the long hours and long commutes. OK, we were well paid, but we never had any time, so we decided to pack everything in and go off travelling for a few months while we decided what we wanted to do with our lives. The plan was to explore South America, have some fun and come back with a notebook of business ideas."

]]> 2021-04-18 13:30:54 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429898815 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429899055 They started to consider chocolate as soon as they came across a little town in the middle of the Argentinean lake district where a large German population ran several chocolate shops. "We got thinking about why there wasn’t more innovation in chocolate in the UK," says Pattinson. "When we reached Venezuela and accidentally ended up staying on a cocoa plantation, we became fascinated by these beautiful trees and fruit and how it becomes one of the world’s most addictive foods."

]]> 2021-04-18 13:30:58 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429899055 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429899166 When they returned, the couple spent six months eating very large amounts of chocolate and researching every corner of the industry until they found a gap in the market. "It helped that I’m an amateur and experimental cook," says Pattinson. Indeed, product development - including all Montezuma’s unusual flavours, such as their strawberry and paprika chocolate bar - is his area. 

]]> 2021-04-18 13:31:03 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429899166 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900670 In 2000, Montezuma’s started with one little chocolate machine and one shop, selling 200 products. After seven years, the 60-person-strong company launched its seventh store and also has a growing wholesale and mail order business. The targeted turnover for this year is £4m.]]> 2021-04-18 13:32:20 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900670 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900783 All Montezuma’s organic cocoa comes from co- operative plantations in the Dominican Republic and Peru. "Besides focusing on sourcing the finest ingredients, it was always important to us that growers get a fair price," explains Pattinson. "Both of these co-ops have a strong social structure that re- invests in the local society and infrastructure in a way that makes their cocoa-based agriculture sustainable, equitable and, indeed, profitable."]]> 2021-04-18 13:32:26 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900783 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900883 Right from the word go, the Pattinsons put ethics at the heart of the business. "It really was a passion of me and Helen’s that if we could make the business profitable, then we should make part of the aim of the business to make life more comfortable for the societies we come into contact with," he explains. "In fact, it’s essential to us to deal fairly with all our suppliers so that we don’t exploit anyone in the entire chain from grower to consumer.]]> 2021-04-18 13:32:31 UTC https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900883 TaynaraSegurado https://padlet.com/TaynaraSegurado/gtmix7b27sb2p3d2/wish/1429900988 The Pattinsons’ commitment to ethics even extends to its advertising budget. "We don’t advertise. Instead, we use the budget that we would do for advertising to support charitable works - whether that’s providing Easter eggs for a charity Easter Egg hunt or getting actively involved with fundraising for different projects."

Adapted from The Independent, 05 June 2007

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