The Chocolate Museum
The Chocolate Museum is a London-based independent chocolate education business founded by Isabelle Alaya, operating workshops, school programs, the ChocoTale tasting experience, and a 360° virtual gallery for families, primary schools, and corporate groups; it vacated its Brixton premises in February 2023 and is currently without a permanent venue.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2013
- HeadquartersSaint Stephen, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What The Chocolate Museum does
The Chocolate Museum Limited is a London-based, founder-controlled independent museum and chocolate education business incorporated in England and Wales (company number 08248925). It was founded by French artisan chocolatier Isabelle Alaya, who also owns Melange Chocolate, and has operated a permanent collection of chocolate-related artefacts (some dating to 1792) since opening in Brixton in March 2013. The museum vacated its Brixton premises in February 2023 and is currently without a permanent physical location, running workshops from the Melange Chocolate shop in Peckham while it searches for new premises.
The company monetizes a portfolio of physical and virtual offerings: drop-in chocolate making workshops (£18–£25 per person, max 6 per table), adult workshops including truffle-making and chocolate-and-wine tasting at Melange Chocolate in Peckham, children's birthday parties, and National Curriculum-aligned Key Stage 2 school workshops at £6–£10 per child delivered in-school or online. The ChocoTale interactive tasting experience pairs 13 single-origin chocolates with a Gamar augmented-reality app telling the Quetzalcoatl story, and is also sold as a £12.50 tasting box for two with shipping. A 360° Matterport virtual gallery provides remote access to the collection, and Zoom-based online tasting workshops (minimum 10 participants, chocolate shipped) serve corporate and celebration groups. Distribution is primarily direct-to-consumer via the company website, Eventbrite, and Checkfront, supplemented by mobile school outreach across London and the surrounding area (up to 1.5 hours' travel).
The operating model is small and asset-light: a core team of three (Founder/Director Isabelle Alaya, Art Director/Education Liaison Alessandra Ferrini, Art & Culture lead Laura Reiman) is supplemented by variable part-time education officers hired on a casual basis. Revenue is transaction-based across consumer, education, and corporate channels, with no disclosed external funding, no enterprise anchor customers, and no patents, certifications, or AI/ML capabilities. The Melange Chocolate partnership is structural — it provides both workshop venue and ethically sourced chocolate supply — making the founder's related entity central to current operations while a new physical museum site is being sought.
The Chocolate Museum firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- The Chocolate Museum
- Legal name
- The Chocolate Museum Limited
- Website
- https://thechocolatemuseum.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2013
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- The Chocolate Museum is a London-based independent chocolate education business founded by Isabelle Alaya, operating workshops, school programs, the ChocoTale tasting experience, and a 360° virtual gallery for families, primary schools, and corporate groups; it vacated its Brixton premises in February 2023 and is currently without a permanent venue.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
The Chocolate Museum industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Museum and chocolate education services
- NAICS
- Museums (712110), Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacturing (31135), Retail Bakeries (311811)
- SIC
- Bakery Products (2050)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Specialty Chocolatiers & Confectionery (CRAHAGAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Chocolate & Confectionery Patisseries (Bonbons, Truffles, Macarons) (THAFAFAL), Baking & Pastry Classes (THAJAGAJ)
Keywords
Where The Chocolate Museum is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Saint Stephen
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
The Chocolate Museum business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Workshop Fees: Revenue from drop-in workshops, chocolate making workshops, and tasting sessions for families, adults, and groups. Bookings taken via email and Eventbrite.
- School Programs: Per-child fees for school workshops covering history, tasting, and chocolate making. Priced at £6-£10 per child based on workshop type and group size.
- ChocoTale Tasting Box Sales: Sale of tasting boxes for 2 people at £12.50 plus postage, enabling home chocolate tasting experiences with educational content.
- Private Event Hire: Revenue from hiring space for private workshops, corporate events, and celebrations on any day or evening.
- Corporate/Online Tasting Workshops: Zoom-based chocolate tasting workshops for groups with shipped chocolate samples. Minimum 10 participants.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Family Drop-in Workshop: £25 for 1 child + 1 adult |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Adult Drop-in Workshop: £18 per person |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | ChocoTale Tasting Box: £12.50 for 2 people |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | School Tasting & History Workshop: £6-£8.50 per child |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | School Tasting & Making Workshop: £7.50-£10 per child |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Corporate/Group Online Tasting Workshop: Custom pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels6 records
The Chocolate Museum product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Chocolate Museum is an independent London museum and workshop provider dedicated to chocolate education, history and hands-on making. It runs a free permanent exhibition on chocolate production and history, the ChocoTale interactive tasting trail (13 chocolates paired with the Gamar AR app), and a portfolio of in-person and online workshops for families, adults, children, schools and corporate groups. Educational programming is aligned with the UK National Curriculum for Key Stage 2, and products include a small shop of UK bean-to-bar chocolates and gift vouchers.
Product overview
The Chocolate Museum is a London-based independent museum and workshop venue dedicated to chocolate education and history. Its portfolio comprises physical and virtual offerings: the core museum experience includes a permanent exhibition covering beans-to-bar production, world and British chocolate history, design history, and the cocoa & slavery exhibition; ChocoTale is an interactive tasting trail using the Gamar App combined with a physical tasting box; and workshop offerings include drop-in sessions, adult workshops (truffles making, wine tasting), children's birthday parties, holiday workshops, and school educational programs. The museum also provides virtual access via a 360° Matterport gallery and offers online tasting workshops for remote groups. Products are sold including UK bean-to-bar chocolate selections and gift vouchers. The museum partners with Melange Chocolate for workshop venues in Peckham.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- ChocoTale: Interactive chocolate tasting experience telling the story of Quetzalcoatl through 13 different chocolates from around the world. Available as a tasting box for 2 or online tasting workshop using the Gamar app.
Products and services
- The Chocolate Museum (London) Independent museum in London dedicated to chocolate education and history, with a permanent exhibition on chocolate production, world and British history, and cocoa & slavery, plus free admission.
- ChocoTale Interactive Tasting Experience
- Drop-in Chocolate Making Workshops
- Adult Chocolate Workshops (Truffle Making and Wine Pairing) Adult-focused chocolate workshops at Melange Chocolate in Peckham, including a 2.5-hour professional truffle making session (tempering, flavouring, shaping, enrobing, decorating) and a Thursday evening chocolate and wine pairing workshop.
- Children's Birthday Party and Holiday Workshops Chocolate making birthday parties and school-holiday workshops for children, where children experiment with different ingredients and decorations to create their own chocolates (truffles, bars, lollipops).
- School Workshops (National Curriculum Aligned) In-school and online chocolate workshops for Key Stage 2 primary school children, covering general chocolate history, geography, production and trade, Maya and Aztec cocoa history, and biodiversity in cocoa farming. Offered as a History & Tasting Workshop (£6–£8.50 per child) and a Tasting & Making Workshop (£7.50–£10 per child).
- Online Tasting Workshop (Zoom) Zoom-based chocolate tasting workshops for groups (birthdays, hen-dos, corporate events), with UK single-origin and flavoured chocolate bars shipped to each guest. Minimum 10 participants, 1–2 hours, custom pricing.
- Corporate and Team Building Workshops Corporate team building and private events combining chocolate tasting and making, delivered on-site at the client's location or online at times to suit the organisation.
- Virtual Exhibition (360° Gallery) Free 360° virtual tour of the museum's exhibition space using Matterport technology, allowing remote visitors to explore the collection online until a new physical location is secured.
- Gift Vouchers Non-refundable gift vouchers for The Chocolate Museum experiences, redeemable against workshops, tastings and related offerings.
- UK Bean-to-Bar Chocolate Shop Curated retail selection of single-origin and ethically sourced chocolates from UK bean-to-bar makers, available through the museum's online shop.
Companies that use The Chocolate Museum
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
The Chocolate Museum technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature2 records
The Chocolate Museum partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Melange ChocolatecoreMelange Chocolate is owned by founder Isabelle Alaya and hosts The Chocolate Museum workshops at their Peckham location. They provide the venue for adult workshops, birthday parties, and family workshops. Melange also supplies ethically sourced chocolate for museum activities and workshops.
- Laura ReimanminorConceptual artist who creates chocolate paintings and portraits of cocoa farmers. Her exhibitions are featured at the museum, particularly during Black History Month. She uses chocolate as paint medium and explores crossmodal correspondances (taste and colour matching).
- Hatzidakis EmmanouilminorPastry chef and chocolate sculptor who organizes charity chocolate exhibitions. His 'Chocolate feelings' sculpture exhibition was featured at the museum.
- Kristiane Wolf (KRIWO)minorVisual artist who creates chocolate jewelry using dripping techniques. Her edible chocolate earrings are exhibited and sold at the museum.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
The Chocolate Museum competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Rococo Chocolates: Rococo Chocolates is a London-based luxury chocolate brand with retail shops and chocolate masterclasses/workshops - comparable to The Chocolate Museum's artisan chocolate positioning and its adult chocolate-making workshop product line.
- Hotel Chocolat: Hotel Chocolat operates UK chocolate shops, the Rabot Estate experience, and educational school programmes alongside a broad retail range - comparable to The Chocolate Museum on both the chocolate-retail and chocolate-experience sides, though as a much larger commercial operator.
- Artisan du Chocolat: Artisan du Chocolat is a London-based artisan chocolatier with a Soho shop offering chocolates and workshop experiences - overlapping with The Chocolate Museum's premium artisan positioning and hands-on chocolate-making workshop offering in London.
- Cocoa Runners: Cocoa Runners is a UK bean-to-bar chocolate curation and education business offering subscriptions, tastings, and learning content - directly comparable to The Chocolate Museum's ChocoTale tasting concept and its emphasis on UK bean-to-bar storytelling.
- Cadbury World: Cadbury World (Bournville, Birmingham) is a chocolate-themed attraction offering self-guided tours and educational experiences about cocoa and chocolate production - the largest direct analogue to The Chocolate Museum's experiential chocolate-education model, though at materially larger scale.
- York's Chocolate Story: York's Chocolate Story is a chocolate-themed museum in York offering guided tours, tastings, and chocolate-making workshops - the closest UK mid-scale analogue to The Chocolate Museum's combination of chocolate history, tastings, and hands-on workshop experiences.
- York Cocoa Works: York Cocoa Works is a working chocolate factory and school in York combining bean-to-bar manufacturing, public workshops, and chocolate-making courses - directly comparable to The Chocolate Museum's chocolate-making workshops and educational programming.
Others
- Cartoon Museum: The Cartoon Museum is a small, free-admission London specialist museum operating a permanent collection and educational visits - comparable to The Chocolate Museum's small-scale, free-entry, education-led specialist London museum model rather than its chocolate-specific subject matter.
Broad incumbents
- Museum of Brands: The Museum of Brands is a small, free-admission London museum offering permanent exhibitions and educational programmes - the closest size and model benchmark for The Chocolate Museum as a small specialist London museum with free entry and education-led programming.
- Green & Black's: Green & Black's is a mainstream UK premium chocolate brand (owned by Mondelez) with ethical-sourcing positioning and educational marketing content - a broader incumbent analogue on the ethical/premium chocolate positioning that The Chocolate Museum curates around.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
The Chocolate Museum social profiles
Digital presenceThe Chocolate Museum financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
The Chocolate Museum leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
The Chocolate Museum funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
The Chocolate Museum M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about The Chocolate Museum
What does The Chocolate Museum do?
The Chocolate Museum is an independent London museum and workshop provider dedicated to chocolate education, history and hands-on making. It runs a free permanent exhibition on chocolate production and history, the ChocoTale interactive tasting trail (13 chocolates paired with the Gamar AR app), and a portfolio of in-person and online workshops for families, adults, children, schools and corporate groups. Educational programming is aligned with the UK National Curriculum for Key Stage 2, and products include a small shop of UK bean-to-bar chocolates and gift vouchers.
Is The Chocolate Museum a public or private company?
The Chocolate Museum is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was The Chocolate Museum founded?
The Chocolate Museum was founded in 2013. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is The Chocolate Museum based?
The Chocolate Museum is headquartered in Saint Stephen, Canada, in the North America region.
How does The Chocolate Museum make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Workshop Fees are the primary driver. The others are school Programs, chocoTale Tasting Box Sales, private Event Hire and corporate/Online Tasting Workshops.
Who are The Chocolate Museum's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Rococo Chocolates, Hotel Chocolat, Artisan du Chocolat, Cocoa Runners, Cadbury World, York's Chocolate Story and York Cocoa Works. Cartoon Museum is listed as an others. Broad incumbents are Museum of Brands and Green & Black's.
Does The Chocolate Museum have an API?
No public API is recorded for The Chocolate Museum.
What industry is The Chocolate Museum in?
The Chocolate Museum's product category is Museum and chocolate education services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRAHAGAH, Specialty Chocolatiers & Confectionery, with a secondary code of THAFAFAL, Chocolate & Confectionery Patisseries (Bonbons, Truffles, Macarons). Its NAICS code is 712110 and its SIC code is 2050.