Product Update

Is Cocoa Ooze Still in Business? (2026 Update)

Is Cocoa Ooze from Dragons’ Den still around in 2026? The deal it made, the dragons who invested, and where to buy Cocoa Ooze today.

Dragons' Den IndexUpdated 11 May 20266 min read

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Cocoa Ooze, an Aberdeen luxury handmade chocolate business, pitched in series 14 asking for £70,000 for 35 percent of the company, and secured backing from Touker Suleyman. A decade on, the business is not just still trading, it opened a new chocolate-themed bistro in Aberdeen as recently as March 2026.

The Short Answer

Yes, Cocoa Ooze is still in business, and it is genuinely active rather than just quietly ticking over. The company continues to make and sell handmade chocolate from its Aberdeen base, sells online across Scotland, and launched a new chocolate-themed bistro on Belmont Street in Aberdeen in March 2026, which is about as strong a current-activity signal as a small food business can give.

The Pitch in the Den

Founder Jamie Hutcheon pitched Cocoa Ooze in series 14, episode 8. He started the business at just 17 years old, making chocolates from family recipes in his own kitchen before turning it into a commercial operation based around his Aberdeen bistro and online store, offering handmade chocolates, chocolate afternoon teas, chocolate-making workshops and bespoke gifts.

The pitch reportedly ran into scepticism from several Dragons over how original the underlying business really was, a fair question for a category, artisan chocolate, where there are plenty of small independent producers doing broadly similar things. That scepticism did not stop a deal from getting done.

The Deal

Touker Suleyman offered to fund the business in full in exchange for a 35 percent stake, and after negotiation agreed to step that stake down to 20 percent once his investment had been repaid. That kind of stepped-equity structure, where a Dragon's ownership shrinks once the founder has paid back the initial capital, gives the founder a real incentive to hit repayment targets quickly, since doing so hands meaningful ownership back.

From a Teenage Kitchen Project to a Multi-County Brand

Cocoa Ooze once ran a small chain of shops across the north-east of Scotland before scaling that back in recent years to focus more tightly on the craft of chocolate making itself, a deliberate narrowing rather than a sign of trouble. The company now operates from Jasmine House on Greenbank Place in Aberdeen's East Tullos industrial estate, and sells its chocolates and gifts across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray and as far as Edinburgh.

That geographic spread, well beyond the original Aberdeen bistro the founder pitched with, points to a business that has continued building its customer base steadily in the years since its television appearance rather than standing still.

The New Bistro

The clearest, most recent evidence of the company's health is the chocolate-themed bistro it opened on Belmont Street in Aberdeen, launching in March 2026 and running three days a week from the company's premises. Opening a new physical hospitality venue is a genuine capital commitment, staff, stock, a lease, and it is not the kind of move a struggling business tends to make.

It also brings Cocoa Ooze full circle back to the bistro concept that was part of the original Dragons' Den pitch, suggesting the format has proved durable enough to be worth reinvesting in years later.

Why the Founder's Story Still Matters

Jamie Hutcheon starting the business at 17, working from family recipes in a home kitchen, remains a central part of how Cocoa Ooze markets itself, and it is not just marketing spin. A founder who genuinely grew up in the business tends to have a much deeper, more personal stake in its long-term survival than an investor-driven brand assembled purely to fill a gap in a category, and that kind of commitment often shows up in decisions like scaling back the shop chain to protect quality rather than chasing growth for its own sake.

It is also worth noting that the Dragons' scepticism about originality on the day of the pitch was a reasonable read of a crowded artisan chocolate market, not an unfair dismissal of the business. Cocoa Ooze's answer to that scepticism has effectively been a decade of continued trading and reinvestment, which is a more convincing rebuttal than anything that could have been said in the Den itself.

Where Things Stand Now

To recap: Cocoa Ooze asked for £70,000 for 35 percent in series 14, and Touker Suleyman backed the pitch, with his stake set to step down to 20 percent once repaid. Years later, the company is still trading from its Aberdeen base, sells across the wider north-east of Scotland and into Edinburgh, and opened a brand new chocolate-themed bistro as recently as March 2026.

If you are wondering whether Cocoa Ooze survived its Den appearance, the honest answer is that it is doing considerably more than surviving. It is actively expanding.

Where to buy Cocoa Ooze

Still selling as of 11 May 2026. Check today's price and availability.

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See the full Cocoa Ooze deal breakdown and term sheet →