William George Harcourt-Cooze (born 29 April 1964), is a British-based

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

maker and entrepreneur. He came to public prominence in 2008 with the airing of the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

fly-on-the-wall Fly on the wall is a style of documentary-making used in film and television production. The name derived from the idea that events are seen candidly, as a fly on a wall might see them. In the purest form of fly-on-the-wall documentary-making, t ...

documentary, '' Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory,'' which centred on his efforts to grow, import and produce his own chocolate.

Early life

Born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

to a Burmese father and Irish mother, he has two younger, and two older sisters, as well as a younger brother. His father fled Burma during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. When Willie was four his father bought Horse Island on the south west coast of Ireland between

Ballydehob Ballydehob () is a coastal village in the southwest of County Cork, Ireland. It is located on the R592 regional road, at a junction with the N71 national secondary road. History During the Bronze Age (2200-600 B.C.), copper was mined on Moun ...

and

Schull Schull or Skull ( ; or ''Scoil Mhuire'', meaning "Mary's School") is a town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the southwest coast of Ireland in the municipal district of West Cork, the town is dominated by Mount Gabriel (407 m). It has ...

, where his father started farming and living a self-sufficient life. He attended school in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, Ireland. Returning to England aged eleven, he was unhappy and returned to Ireland after a year where he attended a comprehensive school in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

. After completing basic schooling there, he moved back to England again to study for his

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

and was considering following in his father's footsteps and becoming a property developer. In 1982, whilst on a night out with some friends, he was

stabbed A stabbing is penetration or rough contact with a sharp or pointed object at close range. ''Stab'' connotes purposeful action, as by an assassin or murderer, but it is also possible to accidentally stab oneself or others. Stabbing differs fro ...

by an unknown assailant, but made a good recovery. Soon after this happened, he received the news that his father had died. He decided to travel and visited Australia, Peru and the

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

Chocolate

After marrying

Tania Coleridge The Honourable Tania Rosamund Harcourt-Cooze (née Coleridge, born 22 January 1966) is an English model and actress. Early life and education The daughter of Major William Duke Coleridge, 5th Baron Coleridge of Ottery St Mary, a Major in t ...

, they honeymooned, trekking on horseback in Venezuela where, in 1993, whilst speaking to a beach umbrella salesman he was directed to the

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter and ...

farm, in the Venezuelan

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...

, ''

Hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...

El Tesoro'' in the Henri Pittier National Park, near

Choroni Beach Choroní is a popular place located in Aragua, Venezuela. Its proper name is Choroní, but because of its proximity to the colonial not official village of Choroní ( es), it is often referred to as Playa Grande or El Malecon. It lies about 50 ...

. They eventually decided to sell his flat in London, and emigrated to Venezuela to purchase El Tesoro. They planted more than 50,000

cacao Cacao is the seed from which cocoa and chocolate are made, from Spanish cacao, an adaptation of Nahuatl cacaua, the root form of cacahuatl ("bean of the cocoa-tree"). It may also refer to: Plants *''Theobroma cacao'', a tropical evergreen tree ** ...

trees of the Criollo cultivar, and built up an

eco-tourism Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds ...

venture. In 1998 he started making 100%

bars for locals from the farm, with moulds made from a clay pipe. In 2007, they returned to the UK. In 2008, after being falsely accused, investigated and cleared by the regime of Hugo Chavez for exploitation of locals, they mothballed the farm temporarily. Relocating to a rented property in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, after several years of assembling suitable equipment, and the resumption of cocoa farming, he began production in 2007 in Uffculme, Devon, filmed by

. In 2008 the TV show was recommissioned for a second series, the follow-up series ''Willie's Chocolate Revolution: Raising the Bar'', aired on Channel 4 on 7–9 April 2009 which followed Harcourt-Cooze's attempt to introduce a high-cacao chocolate bar, "Delectable", to the British market. In December 2020 he appeared on

Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster ''Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster'' is a food and comedy podcast featuring Ed Gamble and James Acaster, in which guests are invited to select their dream menu by both comedians. ''Off Menu'' was launched in December 2018 and was nomin ...

podcast alongside Joe Thomas discussing his method for cooking lamb as featured on Willie's Perfect Chocolate Christmas.

Personal life

Harcourt-Cooze has three children and lives in

Tiverton, Devon Tiverton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Devon, England, and the commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The population in 2019 was 20,587. History Early history The town's name is conjectured to derive from "Twy-fo ...

In 2010 he and his wife, Tania Harcourt-Cooze divorced.

Filmography

References

External links