Rebuilding a cacao industry

With the cacao industry itself in steep decline, they began the process of working with the Saint Lucian community to rebuild it. Launched in 2007, the Engaged Ethics programme guarantees a fair price to the 220 farmers who are part of the scheme, creating the ‘happy chocolate’ Hotel Chocolat is known for.

Today, the 140-acre estate, with the iconic Piton Peaks as its backdrop, is the perfect place for our cacao trees, not to mention the Rabot estate family, to flourish.

Where it all started

Everything starts and finishes with the cacao. On the Rabot estate in Soufrière, the team lovingly tend the cacao, from seedling to bean. It’s also where you’ll find the spa experts at the Rabot Hotel and it is the beauty treatments here, using ingredients found in the rainforest, that were the inspiration for our range.

Why beauty?

From the tropical rainforests that surround the Rabot estate came the inspiration for a beauty collection. Capturing the essence and power of the island’s ingredients, the Rabot 1745 beauty collection is the next best thing to being there.

Do good…and then do better

Free of microbeads and never, ever tested on animals, Rabot 1745 stays true to Hotel Chocolat’s core values: authenticity, originality and ethics. We’re serious about sustainability too: almost all of Rabot 1745’s beauty packaging is compostable, reusable or recyclable already – and by 2021, 100% will be.

Rabot @ Kindred

The Rabot team is based at Kindred, a beautiful co-working space in a renovated Georgian Grade II listed building in Hammersmith, west London. The vibe here is one of community, collaboration and connection, and we love it. As the nature of work is changing for so many of us we know we’re lucky to have found a space that inspires our team - and serves great coffee! Amongst the potted plants and panelled walls we work hard to bring you a range of cacao-powered skincare products inspired by our cacao estate in Saint Lucia.

Pop-up life

Our first pop-up store at Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush was a lot of fun. From getting the coffee beans to stay in those jute sacks (harder than you might think) to demonstrating our products on customers, we had a great time.

A taste of Rabot

It may be 4000 miles from London to Saint Lucia but we brought the taste of the Rabot estate to London with the launch of our restaurant in the heart of bustling Borough Market. It’s rich in history, having been part of this area of London since 1014 and Borough is the place to come to discover a huge variety of international foods. Nestled amongst the busy stalls, the Rabot café serves our celebrated hot chocolate and you’ll find a curated beauty edit here too.