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Rabot Estate Story




Since 1745   Since 1745 -

When visiting you simply must discover real chocolate on one of the Cocoa Tours...

The Rabot Estate is Saint Lucia’s oldest cocoa estate, and was first established as an agricultural estate around 1745.

The Estate was bought 5 years ago by two UK based entrepreneurs, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, the original founders of Hotel Chocolat . At that stage cacao growing on Saint Lucia was on its knees; no future, no investment, no pride and no quality.


Angus Thirlwell   Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris -

Angus grew up in the Caribbean and always wanted to connect chocolate and cacao. A customer sent him an old book published in 1920 about cacao growing, which he read while he was visiting his father who lives in Barbados. This is how we came to buy Rabot Estate...

A member of the Hotel Chocolat Tasting Club, Michele Clare was tidying out her husband’s office as he had just retired. Lying under a dusty pile, she saw a 1920 copy of "Cocoa & Chocolate, Their History from Plantation to Consumer". Inscribing “I thought you might like to see this” she posted it to Angus Thirlwell (Co-Founder).

Angus recounts the story from there:

“I was just setting off for a stay with my father, who lives in the West Indies, so slipped the book into my baggage. As a chocolate-obsessed person I couldn’t put the book down once I started it. What I hadn’t realised and what I learned from the book was how common it was for chocolatiers to make their own chocolate from the bean back in the 1920s and what an important cocoa-growing region the West Indies used to be. Since then there have been huge changes - hardly any chocolatiers get involved in the bean any longer, buying all their chocolate ready made from specialist bean converters. Cocoa growing has plummeted in much of the West Indies as bananas and tourism has taken its place. However the beans from this part of the world are high quality, primarily Trinitario.

I thought: why don’t we grow our own cocoa and do the opposite of everyone else? When I got back, I brought up this idea at our next gathering of the Directors and was amazed at the response “What are you waiting for. Let’s get a move on and do it!” Manufacturing Director, John Hadley told me. We concentrated our search on the West Indies as I grew up there and the islands are largely stable, democratic nations as well as being very beautiful. Research trips to Jamaica, Grenada, St Vincent then followed. After a long and difficult search, we found what looked like an ideal old estate in St Lucia. Co-founder Peter Harris and I shot over and in the face of strong competition signed contracts within a week to buy Rabot Estate from Renée and David Terry. The estate had been in Renée’s family since the 1930s. Contracts were finalised and Rabot Estate became ours in April 2006. This was a moment of serendipity which inspired him to get into cacao growing. Peter always wanted to have a farm, so although he is a Chartered Accountant and naturally quite cautious, he was game on too!

Angus Thirlwell

Angus Thirlwell

Angus Thirlwell		  

Royal Visit -

We're very proud to announce that the Rabot Estate has played host to a royal visit from HRH The Prince of Wales. Prince Charles, together with the Duchess of Cornwall, visited the island to reinforce Britain's ties as well as to promote sustainable development, environmental protection and youth opportunity. On arrival at the plantation, Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, Co-founders of Hotel Chocolat, invited him to cut the first ground at the site of our chocolate factory to be built among the cocoa trees. The Prince was then shown around the estate, given a demonstration in the art of grafting cocoa seedlings and invited to taste our single estate and single origin St Lucian chocolate.


Chocolate Factory -

The building of a chocolate factory in St Lucia was of particular interest to Prince Charles as it turns normal industry practice on its head. Usually, it is only the commodity crop, cocoa beans, that is exported with all of the value being added in an industrialised nation. This factory will allow us to create value on the island of St Lucia by exporting the finished product, St Lucian chocolate. Local grower, John Modeste, who already supplies Hotel Chocolat with cocoa, was there to share the excitement as the Prince cut the first earth, "Hotel Chocolat has breathed new life into cocoa growing. Now I know I have a dependable market for my cocoa and am paid a fair price, promptly. In fact I am planting more cocoa and have taken on extra workers to help harvest as much as I can".


Ethical Project -

Angus, who spent half an hour showing the Prince around, said he had some encouraging things to say, "His Royal Highness was kind enough to say that he was aware at first hand of the difficulties of making an ethical project like this work and that he was impressed with our progress so far. He also said he that he was very interested in coming back to see chocolate being made here, once the factory is up and running. And, although not a big chocolate eater, he did express a preference for our 72% St Lucia chocolate. In fact, the Prince left with a small supply for himself and made sure that he took some for the Duchess of Cornwall too!"