Woolworths and De Villiers Chocolate have collaborated to launch the retailer’s first in-store DV Chocolate ‘pod’.
The De Villiers Chocolate experience will be hosted at Woolworths’ flagship store at Waterstone Village in Somerset West from this month.
De Villiers Chocolate is one of Africa’s first bean-to-bar chocolate brands; made from cocoa beans sourced from cocoa bean farmers from around the African continent.
Woolworths’ chocolate pod will allow consumers to engage with De Villiers Chocolate through tastings, new product trials and information about the heritage of the brand and its products.
All products under the De Villiers Chocolate label are certified by UTZ, a Netherlands-based international certification body, which supports responsible and sustainable cocoa farming.
Owner and founder of De Villiers Chocolate, Pieter de Villiers, said the launch of Woolworths’ De Villiers Chocolate Pod offers a new means to stay connected to established brand-fans and hopefully introduces new consumers to the brand.
“De Villiers Chocolate’s success is due to direct feedback from our customers,” he said. “We relied on consumers’ responses when we started out selling at a stall at a farmer’s market, and, even though the brand has grown, we still value our relationship with our customers above everything else.”
The Woolworths chocolate pod will be a smaller version of the De Villiers Chocolate stores in Paarl and Franschhoek, and will stock the complete range of De Villiers Chocolates. Seasonal products will be launched on a quarterly basis at the De Villiers Chocolate Pod, with flavour and packaging combinations to complement various seasonal themes.
De Villiers Chocolate started its trade journey at a farmer’s market in 2009, and has since grown into a national brand, with products sold exclusively in Woolworths stores nationwide.
De Villiers Chocolate also has stand-alone stores at Spice Route in Paarl and Franschhoek.
