Cocoa Mountain is a small gourmet chocolate enterprise situated in Durness in the North West Highlands of Scotland.
The company was founded in 2006 by James Findlay and his civil partner Paul Maden.[1] Maden reportedly tested around 100 truffle recipes before a final 25 were launched.[2] [3] The company were awarded a Scotland Food and Drink Excellence Award for food tourism in 2009. They appeared on the Dragons' Den TV programme in 2015, where they failed to attract investment.[1]
By 2019, they had two cafes in Sutherland – one in Balnakeil, Durness and the other in Dornoch – and a factory in Perth .[4]
Cocoa Mountain uses exotic truffle flavours in its chocolates and produces its own hot chocolate served on the premises in the Cocoa Mountain Chocolate Bar.[5] Where possible, the company stated that they use local and ethically sourced ingredients.[6]
The company turned down a prospective large order from Prince Charles, due to a condition that the company add preservatives to a truffle recipe. A US Senator and Middle Eastern tycoons had reportedly been customers.[3]