Ethically-inspired chocolate business Made Uncommon has executed a second acquisition only weeks after rebranding from Coco Chocolatier.
London-based Love Cocoa now joins the Made Uncommon brand portfolio, following the recent acquisition of Seed & Bean Chocolates. This development comes from Calum Haggerty, the founder of Coco Chocolatier.
Haggerty actively promoted the twin acquisitions on LinkedIn, describing Love Cocoa as an “ethically grounded chocolate brand with a clear mission to make delicious chocolate that does good for the people behind it.”
Founded by CEO James Cadbury, Love Cocoa carries a notable legacy; he is the great-great-great-grandson of John Cadbury, the original creator of Cadbury chocolate, now owned by US confectionery giant Mondelez International.
“James built something distinctive. Starting and scaling any brand takes grit, and this one carried the weight of a name that meant something in British chocolate long before most of us were born,” Haggerty noted in his post.
“James is stepping back to focus on his growing family.”
Love Cocoa’s main offerings include H!P Chocolate bars, diverse milk and dark chocolate tablets, and truffles.
According to Love Cocoa’s website, their chocolates are “made from the finest single-origin cacao, sourced from sustainable suppliers who ensure farmers receive above-average prices for their crops.” Notably, the company commits to donating 1% of annual sales to reforestation projects.
In 2023, Love Cocoa secured GBP 4.3 million ($5.6 million today) in Series A funding from Richard Koch, a venture-capital investor. At that time, Love Cocoa products were available in Harrods and John Lewis stores, while the H!P Chocolate brand was stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Ocado.
After the corporate identity change, Haggerty revealed on LinkedIn three weeks ago that he transitioned from the fire service to establish Coco Chocolatier in 2013. Since then, he has launched UP-UP Chocolate, a “verified child-labour-free chocolate brand,” and the plant-based line, Otherly.
The business now operates from a newly built facility located in Edinburgh, Scotland, at Port Edgar Marina. Haggerty describes Made Uncommon as a “new umbrella identity to unite our brands and give us the platform for what comes next.”
Shortly before this announcement, Haggerty revealed the acquisition of Seed & Bean, regarded as “one of Britain’s most pioneering ethical chocolate brands” founded in 2015.
Seed & Bean remains committed to zero waste and zero plastic, embracing ethical practices, according to its website. The brand is available at Sainsbury’s, Whole Foods Market, and Planet Organic, among others.
Following the acquisition, Haggerty shared: “Made Uncommon is more than a home for our own brands. It is a platform for acquiring and scaling the next generation of challenger brands.”
