About James Chocolates

I started handmaking chocolates in 1995 because I’m passionate about food. At the time, I was working at a delicatessen in Bristol which gave me a chance to learn about good quality ingredients. I was curious to find out how to create chocolates from scratch, so in the evenings I read about chocolate making and then started to blend my own creations in my kitchen at home. I’d previously studied biology and worked as a DJ, so this was a chance to use my experimenting and mixing skills!

When my attempts were good enough to go public, I started to sell them in the delicatessen where I was still working, under the name of James Chocolates. Demand grew, so I used kitchen space in a Bristol restaurant in exchange for chocolate and gave up my day job.

Demand for James Chocolates then increased so much that I needed to find my own premises. The village of Evercreech in Somerset provided the perfect solution. I initially rented a small unit and later moved to a larger site where we are still based.

We now make around 100 different chocolates, which are sold through dozens of outlets around the country, including John Lewis, Selfridges, Fortnum & Mason and Harvey Nichols and we have a loyal following from well-respected specialist food retailers across the country.

To create a chocolate haven for local people and visitors, I opened a dedicated chocolate café-shop, bar chocolat, in Bristol in 2001 and a branch in Bath followed in 2003. Bar chocolat gives you the chance to immerse yourself in a total chocolate experience, with handmade cakes and desserts, along with wickedly indulgent hot chocolate, delicious coffee and cooling summer drinks. Each bar chocolat also stocks a wide selection from the James Chocolates range.

My chocolate obsession doesn’t stop at work. I met my wife Vicky when I was giving a chocolate demonstration, and surprised her with an engagement ring in a chocolate box made with the inscription “Marry Me”. I still make the chocolate boxes – now filled with pralines instead of gold rings. I have a lot to be thankful to chocolate for.

James Hutchins