Willie Harcourt-Cooze

William George Harcourt-Cooze (born 29 April 1964) is a British-based chocolate maker and entrepreneur. He came to public prominence in 2008 with the airing of the Channel 4 fly-on-the-wall documentary, Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory, which centred on his efforts to grow, import and produce his own chocolate.[1]

Early life

Born in London to a Burmese father and Irish mother, he has two younger, and two older sisters, as well as a younger brother.[2] His father fled Burma during the Second World War. When Willie was four his father bought Horse Island on the south west coast of Ireland between Ballydehob and Schull, where his father started farming and living a self-sufficient life.[3][4][5]

He attended school in Waterford, Ireland. Returning to England aged eleven, he was unhappy and returned to Ireland after a year where he attended a comprehensive school in Cork. After completing basic schooling there, he moved back to England again to study for his A-levels and was considering following in his father's footsteps and becoming a property developer. In 1982, whilst on a night out with some friends, he was stabbed by an unknown assailant, but made a good recovery. Soon after this happened, he received the news that his father had died. He decided to travel and visited Australia, Peru and the Far East.[5]

Chocolate

After marrying Tania Coleridge, they honeymooned, trekking on horseback in Venezuela where, in 1993, whilst speaking to a beach umbrella salesman he was directed to the 1,000 acres (400 ha) cocoa farm, in the Venezuelan cloud forest, Hacienda El Tesoro[6] in the Henri Pittier National Park, near Choroni Beach.[7][8]

They eventually decided to sell his flat in London, and emigrated to Venezuela to purchase El Tesoro. They planted more than 50,000 cacao trees of the Criollo cultivar, and built up an eco-tourism venture. In 1998 he started making 100% cacao bars for locals from the farm, with moulds made from a clay pipe.[8]

In 2007, they returned to the UK.[9][10]

In 2008, after being falsely accused, investigated and cleared by the regime of Hugo Chavez for exploitation of locals, they mothballed the farm temporarily.[5][11][12][13][14]

Relocating to a rented property in Devon, England, after several years of assembling suitable equipment, and the resumption of cocoa farming, he began production in 2007 in Uffculme, Devon, filmed by Channel 4.[11][12] In 2008 the TV show was recommissioned for a second series, the follow-up series Willie's Chocolate Revolution: Raising the Bar, aired on Channel 4 on 7–9 April 2009 which followed Harcourt-Cooze's attempt to introduce a high-cacao chocolate bar, "Delectable", to the British market.

In December 2020 he appeared on Off Menu with Ed Gamble and James Acaster podcast alongside Joe Thomas discussing his method for cooking lamb as featured on Willie's Perfect Chocolate Christmas.[15]

Personal life

Harcourt-Cooze has three children and lives in Tiverton, Devon[11][12] In 2010 he and his wife, Tania Harcourt-Cooze divorced.[16]

Filmography
Year Title Role
2008 Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory Self
2008 Willie's Perfect Chocolate Christmas Self
2009 Willie's Chocolate Revolution: Raising the Bar Self
2011 Studio One Guest
2015 The Living Room Guest

See also

References
  1. "Willie Harcourt-Cooze – Personally Speaking Bureau". Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  2. "One Plus One: Willie Harcourt-Cooze – One Plus One – ABC News" (Video). Australian Broadcasting Corporation website. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 27 February 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2015.
  3. Ferguson, Giana (24 June 2019). Gubbeen. Octopus. ISBN 978-0-85783-851-3. Retrieved 5 February 2023. Gubbeen is a 250-acre, traditional farm on the most south-westerly tip of Ireland and is renowned for its award-winning cheese (called Gubbeen) and its smoked meats. The Ferguson family produces more than 50 types of food from the farm and nothing is wasted so that the circle of life sustains the family whilst creating the highest quality products for speciality shops around the world... and projects with William Harcourt-Cooze, Clovisse's godfather, a man who always brought adventure into every project we shared. He owned Horse Island ...
  4. kiely, sheila (7 June 2011). "Nuts & Chocolate". Gimme The Recipe. Retrieved 5 February 2023. I came across his cacao last weekend in Schull Farmer's Market at the Gubbeen Stall.
  5. "Willie Harcourt-Cooze interview: Spilling the beans". The Scotsman. 1 March 2009. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  6. meaning: "treasure", in Spanish
  7. "Bean to Bar | Philosophy of Chocolate". williescacao.com. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  8. Jill Park (7 May 2009). "Sweet success for Willie's chocolate factory". Packaging News. Retrieved 30 July 2009.
  9. "Willie's Cacao: Adventures In Chocolate". Great British Chefs. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  10. "Willie's Cacao". Collective Hub. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
  11. "Willie's Wonky Chocolate Factory". Channel 4. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
  12. Weinberg, Kate (23 February 2008). "Willie's wacky chocolate factory". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 March 2008.
  13. Goodhart, Benjie. "Interview: Willie Harcourt-Cooze". News. Channel 4 Sales. Archived from the original on 15 March 2008.
  14. Wynn-Davies, Patricia (17 March 2004). "Tania Harcourt-Cooze at The Chanters House, in Ottery St Mary: Me and My Home: At home with history". The Independent.
  15. Ed and James and Willie and Joe's Perfect Chocolate Christmas, retrieved 31 December 2020
  16. "Willie & The Chocolate Factory". Bmi Voyager.
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