The
Irish Chocolate Company
1
. The Irish Chocolate Company
Made in Ireland, created in heaven
The prestigious Irish Chocolate Company has contributed
in fuelling the global appetite for chocolate elixir. The combination
of five strategically located luxury Butlers Chocolate Cafés,
including their flagship café in Dublin Airport, coupled
with the launch of their web site in August 2001, has led to
a monumental growth in their export market. Averaging 235,000
hits per month, with a staggering 84% of web traffic coming
from the US, their extensive online web store is attracting
a whole gamut of customers from individuals and corporates to
retail customers. Made possible with funds from Enterprise Ireland’s
eBusiness Accelerator Fund, the web store provides a mouth watering
shopping experience, incorporating the same luxury look and
feel enjoyed in their cafés.
2 . History
Established in 1932 the Irish Chocolate Company has been
owned by the Sorensen family since 1959. Now Ireland’s
leading manufacturer of chocolate, they produce several brands
of product, with Butlers Irish Handmade Chocolates (Butlers)
leading the pack. Their wide range of handmade confectionery
products include the following:
- handmade
chocolates (truffles, pralines, crème fraiche and caramels)
-
mints (peppermint creams, mint thins and mint crisp truffles)
-
fudge (vanilla, chocolate, rum and raisin, Jameson’s and
Irish Cream Liqueur)
-
sugar confectionery (toffees, fruit drops, caramels and fruit
chews)
-
Easter eggs and novelties.
 Butlers
is positioned at the premium end of the confectionery market, offering
the ultimate in indulgence. Made from the finest quality Irish cream,
butter and eggs the products appeal to the discerning chocolate lover
are unsurpassed. The brand, instantly recognisable from the luxurious
white and gold embossed presentation boxes tied with olive ribbon and
decorated with flowers, will have probably been offered as gifts to all
of us at one time or another.
The company operates from a 40,000 sq. ft. state of the art production
facility in the centre of Dublin coupled with a second facility
that opened recently in Bluebell, Dublin. The logistics, manufacturing,
sales and shipping functions are housed adjacent to the manufacturing
plant at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay in Dublin’s city centre.
A recent innovation of the company has been the launch of Butlers
Chocolate Cafés. November 1998 saw the opening of the first
café on Wicklow Street, Dublin. This was successful, and
the company decided to open further outlets. Three more cafés
have opened in Dublin’s city centre, in Grafton Street, Chatham
Street and Nassau Street. In addition to these, a flagship store
was opened in September 2001 at Dublin Airport.
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