Top 13 British-Made Chocolate Brands | Best UK Confectionery
Do you know where your chocolate was made? Some of the popular brands we all know and love might not be as British-made as you’d think. So we’ve put together a list of those that you can guarantee are 100% made in the UK.
You may remember the public outcry in 2017 over the news that Cadbury’s iconic Dairy Milk was no longer British-made chocolate, but was instead being manufactured in Poland.
Cadbury has since reshored some of their Dairy Milk production back to the UK, but despite a high profile announcement about a £75m investment in their Bourneville factory, they still can’t guarantee that every bar of Dairy Milk will be made there.
Cadbury are just one of the famous big three UK chocolatiers that have changed ownership and had their production offshored.
Terry’s is owned by Mondelez, the same company as Cadbury, and all Terry’s production, including the iconic chocolate orange, now takes place in continental Europe.
Rowntree Mackintosh, famous for the KitKat, was taken over by Nestle in the 1980s. According to the Rowntree Society, six million KitKats are still produced at the York factory, but Nestle chocolate is manufactured globally and it’s difficult to find out exactly what is made here as it’s often subject to change.
UK legislation doesn’t require country of origin to be specified on chocolate packaging. So how do you know where your chocolate is made?
We’ve compiled a top eleven list of chocolate brands that are manufactured in the UK. We’ve included a range of brands to suit all tastes and budgets. From ‘bean to bar’ manufacturers who process the cacao themselves, to high street favourites and luxury chocolatiers.
[Updated April 2022]
Buchanan’s (Golden Casket Group)
Known as the “Confectionery Clan”, Buchanan’s is one of Britain’s most famous confectionery brands. Established in 1856, over 50 brand lines are produced in the Golden Casket factory in Greenock.
Their Chocolate Caramels and Chocolate Peppermint Creams are some of their fan favourites.
Montezuma’s
Montezuma’s is a family-owned, British-made chocolate company that has rapidly built a reputation for producing some of the finest and most innovative chocolate available in the UK. Montezuma’s entire range of chocolate bards, truffles, fruits and drinking chocolate is made by them near the beach in West Sussex.
House of Dorchester
House of Dorchester, this premium chocolatier produces a range of high-quality British-made chocolates, crafted at the company’s factory on the Duchy of Cornwall’s Poundbury Estate in Dorset. Proudly British, the artisan chocolate company has been creating award-winning chocolates for 50 years.
Aphrodite Chocolates
Aphrodite Chocolates is a family-run business who create luxury handmade chocolates with as little mechanical intervention as humanly possible. Founded in 1997 they operate from the Derbyshire countryside and are sold worldwide.
Charbonnel & Walker
Purveyors of fine English chocolates, truffles and confectionery, Charbonnel & Walker hold the Royal Warrant as chocolate manufacturers to Her Majesty the Queen. Founded in 1875 with encouragement from Edward VII, (then the Prince of Wales), their original shop opened at 173 New Bond Street in Mayfair and has remained in Bond Street ever since.
Duffy’s
Based in Lincolnshire, Duffy’s Chocolate are a small-scale producer of bean to bar chocolate. They buy beans and perform all the rest of the processes themselves. Beans are sorted by hand and carefully roasted to bring out all of their natural flavours and drive off the bitterness.
Land
Award-winning bean to bar chocolate brand, Land celebrates the world’s finest cacao with the whole process of chocolate making taking place from their workshop on the backstreets of E2; from roasting, winnowing, grinding, conching and wrapping.
The Chocolatier – Aneesh Popat
Aneesh Popat is a self-taught chocolatier who has gone on to become an award-winning chocolatier, showcasing his creations at Michelin starred restaurants and for royalty.
ThorntonsThorntons
Now one of the most famous British-made chocolate brands on the High Street, Thorntons have been crafting chocolates for over 100 years and all their chocolates are produced in their own factory in Alfreton, Derbyshire.
Whitakers
Everything manufactured by wholesalers Whitakers is produced in their modern, purpose-built, factory in North Yorkshire. Whitakers has evolved over 125 years and five generations from a small team manufacturing chocolates by hand in the back of a shop, to a 150 strong workforce producing millions of chocolates every day.
Willie’s Cacao
Willie is the only small cacao grower and producer in the UK. Using 100-year-old machinery, Willie produces from bean to bar, authentic pure cacao and chocolate from the finest beans from around the world. The bars are all single bean or single estate origin of exceptional quality, representing the natural flavour of the region.
Vegan British-made Chocolate
NOMO
Because chocolate should be enjoyed by everyone! NOMO is the UK’s no. 1 Vegan & Free From Chocolate brand created by Kinnerton Confectionery who are based in Norfolk.
Conscious
Conscious Chocolate, the original “raw vegan” chocolate, has been enjoyed throughout the world since 2004. Created in the UK.
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Staggered that packaging is not required to specify country of manufacture. The EU has been bleating about “Country of Origin” documentation in all the debate about post-Brexit customs procedures. So why is chocolate exempt? Other than this list you’ve provided, how are we to know what is Brtish-made in future if the big boys split production, even of the same product like a Kit-Kat or Dairy Milk, between here and elsewhere ?
I think the time will come Michael
I’ve tasted some of Willie’s Cacoa and it’s very good. I also have to be careful as I need ” gluten free” as well. Do all supermarket “own” brands have where produced as I’ve noticed one states.. produced in Belgium.
Just catching up on these. Is there a Top 10 Vegan chocolate list?
Have just come across ‘The Chocolate Cottage ‘ in Grasmere. Hand making the best vegan chocolates I have yet to taste, check it out!
I just have to try this. I was a chocoholic until I found I had a sensitivity to lactose. If this is vegan then no milk. Yipppeee
Umm, Ferrero (Italian) own Thorntons, so it’s no longer a “British” company even if the factory is here.
I didn’t know this. How disappointing. Green and Black’sis British, but they manufacture in Poland, Italy and Canada, not the UK. Again, I was disappointed. We need more manufacturing in the UK now that we’re leaving the EU.
Green and Black’s was bought by Cadbury in 2005 and is now owned by Mondelez
I agree that we need more manufacturing here in the UK, but we also need these companies to make recyclable and compostable materials to wrap our products in to help with the environment
Surely if British jobs are created then that is OK? Cadbury’s is a British Company but don’t produce anything in the UK. Which is worse?
I don’t think it’s the case that Cadbury’s produce nothing in the UK, is it? The article states they have invested at Bourneville but it is a shame that any of their production is overseas.
I’ll double check that Andrew but I think it’s the case 🙁
Its not Italian either.
Like Cadbury, Thorntons will forever be British because thats where its origin was. Its invention, development, history, still all British.
Depends which way you look at it. Is it where its manufactured that determines its essence? Or keeping to its orginal recipes/ethos? I would rather Cadbury was still Cadbury, a family owned brand but its not & wasn’t so much at the time of the Kraft takeover either. My priority is for it to taste & look as it did when produced in dear old Blighty. Over where its now actually manufactured.
You didn’t mention Artisan du Chocolat. They’ve been around since 1999 and all of the chocolate is produced in Ashford, Kent. I recommend their salted caramels and pearls.
After resolving a legal dispute with Toblerone, Poundland now sell their own-label almond and honey nougat-flavoured chocolate called ‘Twin Peaks’. This comes in both milk and white chocolate versions. It is, in my opinion, much BETTER than Toblerone, and CHEAPER, and – here’s the clincher – it is MADE IN BRITAIN. Try it!
Enjoy! is a vegan and organic chocolate produced in Hampshire, UK.
Pound World’s Twin Peaks bar!
I believe Fry’s chocolates are made in UK
Fry’s was taken over by Cadbury’s in the early 1900’s and the factory was closed for good in 2010 after Cadbury’s sold out the Kraft foods.
Nobody mentioned Montezuma’s chocolate. They do a lovely range including vegan and organic truffles. Made in West Sussex. Eat, enjoy, yum !!
Montezumas is the first one on the list in the article.
Moo Free Ltd. is a British manufacturer of dairy free, gluten free, vegan and organic chocolates. Their head office is located in Holswothy, Devon.
https://www.moofreechocolates.com/
I’ve tried a few of them, but I’m surprised Prestat Chocolates isn’t on the list, I have always thought that it was British made.
I’ve not tried Prestat Edward – I’ll check them out
Can I please add Gnaw chocolate to this list? Made in Norfolk, it’s beautiful chocolate with the best salted caramel bar I’ve found!
Galaxy is a American Dove chocolate. It is delicious though. Also Milka chocolate is amazing but I think it is German.
In my search for special chocolate fir Christmas, I have discovered there is a difference between chocolate and chocolates. So many chocotaliers are buying in the chocolate to melt and merely add or fill. Disappointing to say the least. Post brexit all Products should have origin on packaging. It’s not clear from the list that all do other than those listed as bean to bar producers.
Paul young chocolates, based in London Soho and Camden passage are sensational and hand made. They are a little dear.
Try Chococo from Dorset. Truly British and fresh and delicious. Factory just up the road from us!
Chocolarder make their chocolate in Falmouth, Cornwall and import both beans and sugar direct to Falmouth – by sailing ship! And it tastes wonderful!
Sailing ship hmmmmm does that make it taste better?
Read that one of our main exports to the EU is chocolate
Just wondered which chocolates they are buying in quantity
Terre de Sienne is bean to bar based in Worthing, West Sussex. Charlene’s Chocolate Factory is also based in Worthing. I haven’t tried either personally but both have great reviews.
Hotel Chocolat say that they manucture in Huntingdon and have lovely shops and an on-line range.
With so much chocolate being made on mailing Europe, what effect has this had on milk production in th UK?
From where us soya sourced? Do we produce it?
What are the figures?
From all of those I know only Thorntons….
You cannot beat Hotel chocolat . Cocoa from St Lucia , but made in Uk and one of the best you can buy .
I love love LOVE Montezuma’s orange and geranium flavoured dark chocolate! Geranium is one of my favourite scents in aromatherapy and skincare, somehow it’s sweet and uplifting and like a big hug of sunshine. And I am a big fan of chocolate! So having essential oils combined with chocolate is heavenly…and if any of the Montezuma formulators are reading this, how about a Rose and Cardamom combo???
I recently bought a box of After Eights which I’ve purchased year on year for it rich plain chocolate and soft smooth fondant. This month I purchased a box and reply disappointed. The previous nice rich dark chocolate has lost its fine dark deep flavour. The fondant has lost its mint flavour and now stiff. What have the done to such an iconic product. I will never buy after eights again. It would seem anything which was once made in the uk and move production to Europe has lost its flavour and identity. Cadbury’s I have found the same. The dairy bar has lost its smooth creaminess.
Nice to manufacturer chocolate in the UK but I think more needs to be done also at countries where cocoa the raw materials originate. Farmers who produce that wonderful cocoa in Africa still live on a pittance. They earn £1,30 per kg of cocoa and this after they’ve worked for months and years to tend to cocoa fields. 1 kg of cocoa produces 800g of cocoa liquor or cocoa mass. If no ingredients are added, that makes 8 bars of 100g each. One bar rarely costs less than £5. My point is that consumers need to see the value chain from farmers to table and perhaps engage manufacturers to pay higher prices to small scale farmers.
I agree 100% we put so much emphasis on so called sustainability and the environment yet I very rarely hear any body mention the financial disparities between the people who produce the raw products, workers, craft makers, who make the products and the profit margins of companies in the western world which is grossly disproportionate.
I have also noticed that a lot of people have their products made abroad simply because of cheap labour lets not pretend, you care about sustainability the environment but you have no problem with exploiting human beings, particularly women and children who are even more so. If your business model is built on racing to the bottom do not kid yourself you are not building a TRULY SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS . the chinese market that everyone is so dependent on, you think that socio-economic bubble won’t burst! chinese workers have been protesting for years over not getting a fair share of the wealth.
Good article thanks
Thornton’s isn’t a British company anymore, it is Ferrero Roche owned now, Thornton’s chocolates are still produced there though, but they have not been good to the loyal staff that have worked there for many years. A lot from the time the factory was in Belper Derbyshire, before it built a new factory and moved to Alfreton Derbyshire. It was sold to Ferrero a few years ago. They changed the working hours and many of the long time served staff could not do those shifts and hours, so they took redundancy…..some had been there 20 and 30 years and over….a lot of loyal fully trained staff gone there….. I worked there before they took over for over 20 years, I left after the first round of redundancies, because I had to move further away. I am glad I did now…when it was Thornton’s, you was treated as family….it was an amazing place to work for…..but by what’s gone off in the last couple of years….it isn’t anymore…….
Do any of the other chocoholics here remember when Green & Blacks used to do a 200g slab of Brazil and other nut chocolate? It came in a dark blue wrapper. It was discontinued before they were sold off, real shame as it was divine!
As a consumer, I am trying to find a British cholate, not owned by Cadbury or Mars (Nestle), due to these 2 companies not sanctioning trading in Russia, due to, the invasion of Ukraine but cannot. I would appreciate any advice, in particular with Easter pending, I do not want to buy chocolate eggs which will fund the Russian army! Anyone know of another manufacturer please?
is there any that are protestant in origin as most have a popish decadence to them
Well done great article – thank you. Some very interesting points raised.
I buy all my chocolate from Ombar which is based just outside Cambridge
Interesting article, though it doesn’t necessarily tell you if they are British OWNED. I know Thorntons was sold and the chocolates are not as nice any more.