Mr. Thirlwell, the founder of Hotel Chocolat, already has 81 shops, eight cafes and two restaurants before opening his first hotel in 2004.

The value proposition of his business is clearly identified. Mr. Thirlwell wants to “make cocoa the hero” and he wants consumers to be having the same debate about the flavours of different cocoa beans as wine.

He wants people to appreciate chocolate rather than just buy it for snacks. Therefore, Mr.Thrilwell tries his best to ensure that his products can maintain “supper” quality. Not a single part of the range gets onto the shelves without first being approved by Mr. Thirlwell.

“If you’re specialist you’ve got to be absolutely specialist”— Mr. Thirlwell

What’s more, even though using large amounts of cocoa doesn’t come cheap, the firm sets affordable price to customers, starting from £3.75. The customer segment of Mr. Thrilwell’s business is relatively broad. Different chocolate products with different pricing strategies can satisfy various kinds of customers. Everyone can access to Mr. Thrilwell’s chocolate empire. Moreover, Mr. Thrilwell keeps his eyes on new technology. He started selling chocolates online in 1993, becoming one of the UK’s earliest e-retailers. Customers tend to recognize the company more easily since a few retailers sell their products online at that time.

Unique goal, high quality, different price range, reasonable price, one of the earliest e-retailers—all these factors can actually make Mr. Thirlwell become successfully！

Reference: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29689340