Refreshment focuses on the water dispenser/cooler, office coffee service and vending sectors, while also taking an in-depth look into products for vending from bottled water and drinks, to snacks and confectionery. It also focuses on hydration, health and wellness, new technologies and environmental and social responsibility issues.
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Hotel Chocolat has launched a new limited-edition drinking chocolate, Fire & Ice, to mark National Hot Chocolate Day on 31 January 2026.
The product blends the brand’s 70% dark chocolate with Tasmanian peppermint and habanero chilli, combining cooling and warming flavour notes in a single formulation. Made with real chocolate flakes and natural ingredients, Fire & Ice is designed exclusively for use with Hotel Chocolat’s Velvetiser.
According to the company, the flavour is inspired by its existing Fire & Ice chocolate selector, which has now been adapted into a hot chocolate format following the launch of the updated Velvetiser last year.
Yiotis Panagiotou, specialtiy cocoa chocolatier (product development) at Hotel Chocolat, said: “Fire & Ice is originally a chocolate selector, but we’d never tried it as a drinking chocolate until now. After launching the all-new Velvetiser last year, I was inspired to invent a new and unexpected drinking chocolate flavour that ‘shouldn’t’ work, but it does."
"Fire & Ice does just that – it’s the epitome of ‘opposites attract’ in drinking chocolate form. The two flavours get their own time to shine so you get to experience both. The chilli brings the heat and drama, whereas the peppermint balances it out bringing cool and calm. I can talk about it all day, but the fun really begins when you try it for yourself – which is why I’m excited for people to sip our complimentary samples in stores on National Hot Chocolate Day.”
The launch forms part of Hotel Chocolat’s wider hot chocolate portfolio, which includes flavours such as 100% dark, ginger, chilli, coconut white, black forest gateau, peanut butter and mint.
Fire & Ice will be available for a limited time in-store and online, priced at £14.95 for a box of ten sachets.
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