Fresh chocolates win Dragons’ Den investment
UK fresh chilled chocolate business Russell & Atwell is celebrating securing £90,000 from Dragons’ Den investors Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones. The business is headed up by entrepreneurs Steve Russell and Giles Atwell, who have over 30 years collective experience in the making and marketing of chocolate.
Launched as an e-commerce business in 2020, the team hand-prepares five varieties of fresh chilled chocolates from their Birmingham kitchen, just around the corner from Cadbury, in Bournville. Their Creamy Milk, Scrumptious Salted Caramel, Cracking Creamy Hazelnut, Smooth Dark and Extra Rich Dark Chocolates are made with high quality and sustainable ingredients including responsibly sourced cocoa, fresh organic British cream, butter and wildflower honey. Purchasers can opt for letterbox-friendly pouches (from £13.50), elegant refillable glass jars (from £30 for two; from £12 per 180g eco refill) or a regular Russell & Atwell subscription (from £50).
"Why are we still eating long-life chocolate, if everything tastes better fresh?,” asked co-founder Giles Atwell. “The ‘long life’ chocolate bar was invented at the start of the 20th century, but most homes have had fridges since the ‘50s, so whilst fresh milk, pasta and desserts have all migrated over into the fridge, chocolate has been left, quite literally, on the shelf. It’s high time fresh chocolate became the go-to standard for quality, simplicity of ingredients and indulgence.”
The company also recently appointment as Non-Executive Chairman Nick Bunker, who has 25 years’ board-level experience in chocolate and snacking, including as President of Kraft / Cadbury UK, CEO of KP Snacks and most recently MD of pladis.
Dragons’ Den investor Peter Jones said: “I’m a bit of a chocoholic and I’ve seen a lot of chocolate businesses come through the Den, but nothing tasted like Russell & Atwell – it seems so obvious that ‘fresh tastes best’, but to experience their chocolates fresh from the fridge was in a different league – I had to invest.”
Fellow dragon Steven Bartlett added: “Chocolate is my ultimate guilty pleasure and salted caramel is my all-time favourite flavour, so the Russell & Atwell Fresh Salted Caramel chocolates really sealed the deal for me. The product is already incredible and has a strong USP, so I knew with a little guidance and marketing we could really make it explode.”
Image supplied by Russell & Atwell