What It’s Like Being Known as the “Dragons’ Den Chocolate Company” 3 years on

When we launched Russell & Atwell back in late 2020, we were just two chocolate-obsessed foodies with a fridge full of jars, a lot of cocoa powder, and one simple belief: If everything tastes better fresh, why not chocolate?

It started as a side project in our kitchens. Five years later, we’ve become known (proudly!) as the Dragons’ Den chocolate company. But the truth is, Dragons’ Den was just the beginning of our story.

From Kitchen Counter to National TV

We walked into the Den in 2022 armed with a chilled pouch of fresh chocolate and a bit of courage. Our goal? Convince the Dragons that the UK was ready for something new: chocolate made fresh, with real cream and butter, and stored in the fridge. To our amazement, we. We shook hands with Peter Jones and Steven Bartlett, and within two hours of the episode airing, we had more orders than we could have dreamed of.  We became the “Dragons’ Den chocolate” overnight.

Why Fresh? Why Now?

Most  supermarket chocolate has been engineered to last  at least a year on a shelf. That means sacrificing flavour for shelf life,  and often filling it with palm oil, preservatives, and all sorts of other nasties.

We went the other way.

We stripped chocolate back to its essentials. We built every recipe from scratch using just five real ingredients:

●      Sustainable, ethically sourced cocoa

●      Fresh British organic double cream and butter

●      A drizzle of Salisbury Plain wildflower honey

●      Just enough sugar

●      And a pinch of hand-harvested Dorset sea salt

We left out the palm oil. We left out the plastic trays and artificial junk. And what we created was something smooth, intense, melt-in-the-mouth, and unlike anything you’d ever find on a shelf. But it does mean one thing: it needs to be kept in the fridge. Not for months,  just six weeks (although it rarely lasts that long).

Turning Five: A Milestone We’re Hugely Proud Of

This October, we turn five years old,  and looking back, it’s hard to believe how far we’ve come:

●      We’ve been featured on Dragons’ Den, Goggle Box, BBC’s The One Show, The Guardian, The Times and more

●      We’ve won Great Taste Awards and received rave reviews from real chocolate fans across the UK

●      We’ve developed limited editions like “Nutty Blond,” “Marc de Champagne,” and “Black Forest”,  many selling out in hours

●       We’ve built a chilled chocolate business from scratch that allows us to deliver our chocolates express to doors nationwide

●      We’ve partnered with sustainable producers, like Casa Luker in Colombia, for our cocoa and Cotteswold Dairy in Gloucestershire for our fresh organic cream

●      Our honey? That’s from the Wainwright family on Salisbury Plain, small batch, cold-pressed, and packed with floral flavour - every batch is slightly different, depending on what flowers the bees have fed on

Every bite of chocolate we make reflects the care that goes into each decision, from ingredient sourcing to flavour balancing to create the intensely real and chocolatey flavour in your mouth

The Dragons’ Den Chocolate Badge

Being known as the Dragons’ Den chocolate has always been something that makes us smile, even three years on, as it shows how many people remember us, and so many of them have turned into customers. They value our process and principles; We don’t mass-produce. We don’t cut corners. We don’t use palm oil or long-life fillers. We do make everything in small batches, taste-test obsessively, and keep quality above all else.

We know people are trusting us with gifts, treats, and indulgent moments, so we take that seriously. Every pouch that leaves our kitchen is packed, chilled, and sealed with pride.

What We’ve Learned Along the Way

●      That chocolate made properly can still surprise people

●      That trust, built on flavour and integrity, is everything

●      That success doesn’t come from scaling fast, but from staying true to what makes you different

●      That being fridge-first is still unusual, but now it’s catching on

We've learned a lot from feedback, missteps, and late-night tastings. (And yes, 50 chocolates before 9 am is a real thing that’s happened more than once. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it! )

Looking Ahead

We believe fresh chocolate is the future, just like fresh juice, fresh pasta, or fresh chocolate puddings were before us. The global chocolate market is worth £100 billion. If even 10% of that becomes fridge-first, that’s a £10bn opportunity. And we plan to be right there, leading the charge.

What’s next?

●      Even more delicious new flavours and small-batch seasonal creations Check out our bestsellers

●      More partnerships with brilliant delis and other foody stockists

●      More sustainable packaging, More ways to get our fresh chocolate into your fridge, fast

All our chocolates are designed by Steve, in-house, tasted by us, tested by us and crafted and hand-finished without compromise.

The Dragons' favourites:

We always get asked, which ones were the dragons' favourites, so we thought we would list them down below, so you can see if you agree with Stephen, or you're more like Peter

●    Peter Jones - Dark Monty

●    Steven Bartlett - Blond Monty

We got offers from all 5, and we could see that Sarah Davies enjoyed our Salted Caramel - so the Golden Monty would be best for her.