Simon Crowe wins Koko Black supply deal at Qantas, Crown

Luxury chocolate retailer Koko Black has struck supply deals with Qantas and the James Packer-backed Crown Resorts.

Grill’d founder and Koko Black owner Simon Crowe. Picture: Aaron Francis

Luxury chocolate retailer Koko Black has struck supply deals with Qantas and the James Packer-backed Crown Resorts as new owner, Grill’d founder Simon Crowe, looks to rejuvenate the local operations of the business ahead of an Asian expansion.

The business founded 14 years ago by Shane Hills collapsed in late 2015 after expanding too quickly before it was purchased a year later by Mr Crowe, who has overseen the Grill’d burger chain since it opened in 2004.

Koko Black operates separately to the Grill’d brand and last year Mr Crowe appointed Danny Wyatt as chief executive.

The chocolatier has 13 outlets around Australia, with shops in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra, and turns over $20 million, but Mr Crowe wants to ­refocus the company on opportunities in the retail and wholesale markets rather than its Cafe ­“salons”.

“My view is that it should be a chocolate retailer and the cafe is there as an experiential part to bring people into the Koko Black world,’’ Mr Crowe said.

“We have been approached by different department stores. We now have a partnership with ­Qantas and Koko Black on all first and business class flights domestically and internationally.

“We have all just done a deal with Crown for its Towers luxury hotels in Melbourne and Perth — in their turndown services you get a Koko Black product. Our opportunity is retailing, partnerships and then wholesaling.’’

Mr Crowe also revealed his turnaround of the company had taken longer than expected, ­partially due to the issues in the Grill’d business.

His business partner in Grill’d, Geoff Bainbridge, took legal ­action in the Federal Court last year accusing Mr Crowe of breaching his duties as a company director, and of using company staff and resources to fund his ­purchase of Koko Black.

In a counter claim, Mr Crowe sought an order forcing Mr Bainbridge to sell his stake in Grill’d, claiming it was impossible for the pair to ever work together again.

“Koko Black is teaching me ­patience ... The gestation period from idea to in-market execution is far longer than appreciated,” Mr Crowe said.

“I thought we would have Koko Black into a new dawn by Christmas last year. To be honest with the challenges I have had outside of Koko Black, Christmas this year will be a wonderful ­representation of the brand but it will not be the finished Koko Black.”

He said Mr Wyatt had also been heavily focused on improving the operational side of the business. “We need to work on the efficiency side of Koko Black to get it right, so that we can be effective longer term. We are getting our packaging right, our packaging design right, our packaging ­facility to be more efficient, and then the intent is to take this brand into a space that I think is very exciting domestically and ­internationally,’’ Mr Crowe said.

His longer-term vision is to take the company into Asia through online platforms such as Tmall and jd.com.