Russell & Atwell launches funding round to scale its fresh chocolate push

Russell & Atwell, the British maker of fresh chocolate sold from supermarket chiller cabinets, has opened a £700k funding round to strengthen its brand and accelerate its direct-to-consumer business.

The raise is being made under EIS, with pre-approval submitted, and is the company's first round in three years. Longer term, the founders want to broaden into wider retail.

The company is working to establish "fresh chocolate" as a UK category, betting that shoppers will migrate from ambient shelves to the chilled aisle much as they have for fresh pasta, juice and desserts. Its filled chocolate bites come in 90g pouches and are built around a signature "double crack" — a thin outer shell over a creamy centre, finished with a final layer of chocolate.

Heritage and ingredients

Founded in 2020 by Steve Russell and Giles Atwell, the business pairs decades of confectionery pedigree. Russell, a chocolate scientist, leads product development after more than 20 years across brands including Cadbury, Milka, Green & Black's and Godiva.

Atwell runs commercial strategy, drawing on senior marketing roles at Unilever and Mondelez. The pair appeared on Dragons' Den in 2022, winning backing from Steven Bartlett and Peter Jones.

The chocolates use ethically sourced, predominantly British ingredients and contain no palm oil — among them Fino de Aroma cocoa, organic British cream and butter, Essex Borage and Salisbury Plain honey, and Dorset sea salt.

Momentum

Russell & Atwell recently passed its 100,000th order and has stocked its range in Booths' chilled aisles since 2023. This year it began a six-month trial with Ocado across three flavours — Smooth Dark, Creamy Milk and Dirty Blond — with trade rebounding strongly after a difficult start to 2025.

"The growth path is clear; the constraint is capital," said co-founder Giles Atwell. "Just like fresh pasta or fresh juice, we see fresh as the growth engine of chocolate."