As a self confessed chocolate lover I am constantly fighting the urge to nip to the cupboard at home and break off a few chunks of Green and Blacks. The 85% dark is our favourite although my 9 year old son loves the white!

The article in Marketing this week got my writing juices flowing so thought I’d add a blog post about Green and Blacks and Hotel Chocolat. Green and Blacks (G&B)are embarking on an aggressive growth strategy according to brandrepublic.com and I had the pleasure to see chocolate from the other side of the fence having met Siobahn Brown (lovely lady) from Hotel Chocolat (HC) so I feel I have something to contribute!

You would think on the face of it these businesses would be in competition however Siobahn doesn’t see G&B as a direct competitor. There’s a massive difference between the gift sector (HC) and the self purchase sector. I asked her if there was any plan for HC to compete with G&B in the major retailers as it seemed a great opportunity to extend the range and grow market share but they seem content to grow based on innovative products and an amazingly loyal customer base.

I G&B’s now being part of Kraft will undoubtedly mean they are driven to expand ranges, increase market share and conquer the world whereas Hotel Chocolat are still passionately independent, funding all of their growth through loyal customer bond schemes and their own profit.

Which side of the fence would you rather be on? Green &Black’s or Hotel Chocolat?

Jonathan Hirst blogs for fun and is MD of Network Marketing based in Leeds, a specialist marketing recruitment consultancy