James Cadbury is the great-great-great grandson of John Cadbury, who invented Cadbury chocolate in 1824 – now worth £4.6billion.
James entered the Den in 2018 seeking £75,000 for a five percent share of his business Love Cocoa.
Love Cocoa is a luxury handmade chocolate brand which was set up in 2016. Mr Cadbury left his job as a city trader to pursue his dream.
He needed the investment for two key areas of the business: developing new products including those using online personalisation, and expanding the Love Cocoa team.
Despite what people may think, Mr Cadbury explained he did not have any financial backing from his family.
As his family were Quakers and philanthropists, they gave a lot of money back.
He told The Sun: “They didn’t believe in creating wealth for the family and for generations so, instead, they put the money into different charities.
“Then it was also listed on the stock exchange, so other pension funds and other companies would come in and invest so it wasn’t within the family when I grew up but it was still very close, and I was super interested in the history.
“They used to own lots of land in Birmingham, which they gave to the National Trust and all sorts of amazing things. They’ve still got charities going, which my family are involved in.”
Mr Cadbury left the Den with an investment from Dragon Tej Lalvani. He offered the entrepreneur all of the money for 20 percent equity in his business, which he accepted.
However, he explained that after the show there’s “a lot of back and forth which goes on off-screen”. They both decided not to go forward with the deal but wished each other the best.
During the pitch, both Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell were “concerned” about the legal implications associated with James using his family name “Cadbury” on the packaging.
Mr Lalvani said: “I know lawyers who are like rottweilers.. they will bleed you dry.
“That to me is playing Russian roulette with an investment. I’m not going to be the one sitting there with lawyers trying to help you out. I’m out.”
After filming in May 2018, Love Cocoa saw substantial growth.
Not only did the show help boost sales, but they also had new stockists such as John Lewis coming on board, as well as a focus on exports, which now account for 30 percent of the business’s revenue.
By 2019 they had a turnover of £700,000 and the brand was due to launch in Paperchase and Ocado.
Love Cocoa is now worth £14million, and James is hoping to open up stores across the country very soon
The business now exports to over 10 countries and plants a tree for every chocolate bar sold.
It has now planted over 1.6 million trees, and James is hoping to launch the brand’s first store in London this year, with another six across the country over the next two years.
Episodes of Dragons’ Den are available on BBC iPlayer.
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