Cocoa Mountain is a small
gourmet chocolate enterprise situated in
Durness in the
North West Highlands
The Northwest Highlands are located in the northern third of Scotland that is separated from the Grampian Mountains by the Great Glen (Glen More). The region comprises Wester Ross, Assynt, Sutherland and part of Caithness. The Caledonian Canal ...
of
Scotland.
History
The company was founded in 2006 by James Findlay and his civil partner Paul Maden.
Maden reportedly tested around 100
truffle recipes before a final 25 were launched.
The company were awarded a Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Award for
food tourism
Culinary tourism or food tourism or gastronomy tourism is the exploration of food as the purpose of tourism. It is considered a vital component of the tourism experience. Dining out is common among tourists and "food is believed to rank alongsid ...
in 2009. They appeared on the
Dragons' Den TV programme in 2015, where they failed to attract investment.
By 2019, they had two cafes in Sutherland – one in
Balnakeil
Balnakeil is a hamlet in the parish of Durness, Sutherland, Scottish Highlands, and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. It is on the north coast of Scotland around northwest of Durness. The ruins of Balnakeil Church are a scheduled ...
, Durness and the other in
Dornoch – and a factory in
Perth .
Cocoa Mountain uses exotic truffle flavours in its chocolates and produces its own
hot chocolate served on the premises in the Cocoa Mountain Chocolate Bar. Where possible, the company stated that they use local and ethically sourced ingredients.
The company turned down a prospective large order from
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, due to a condition that the company add
preservatives to a truffle recipe. A
US Senator and
Middle Eastern
tycoons had reportedly been customers.
References
External links
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British chocolate companies
British companies established in 2006
Food manufacturers of Scotland
2006 establishments in Scotland
Companies based in Highland (council area)
Sutherland
Food and drink companies established in 2006
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