You’ve been drinking hot chocolate wrong. At least, that’s what Jens Knoop would tell you — politely, with a cup of 54% dark chocolate with fresh orange zest in hand.
Knoop (pronounced “kuh-NOOP”) is the German-born founder and chocolate sommelier behind Knoops, a fast-growing U.K. chain on a mission to do for hot chocolate what specialty roasters did for coffee (and what Swig did for dirty sodas). Customers build drinks from a menu of more than 20 cocoa percentages, anything from a 28% white chocolate to a 100% extra-dark, customized with their choice of milk, spices and herbs.
Now the brand is making its American debut — not in New York or L.A., but in Salt Lake City’s 9th & 9th neighborhood.
When I asked Knoop about his name, he smiled. “My surname — how much time do we have? … It’s a very popular surname in the north of Germany where I’m from, and it actually means ‘button’ in Dutch. We are working with chocolate buttons. It was meant to be before I was born.”
What is the origin story of your passion for hot chocolate?
The very first chocolate memory I have is [when I was] 3 years old. I was raised by my grandmother, and … she rewarded me with chocolate. So, I always had this emotional relationship with chocolate. It was very ceremonial, very German. … I considered chocolate very highly and always appreciated it as a reward, as a gift, as something that needs to be shared or given to somebody.
But of course this is a dream. You don’t think you can make a job or career out of that. That is fantasyland. So I came to England, studied photography, got very creative, then moved a little bit into IT. I was sent around the world as an IT consultant to capture opinion research focus groups. I was in Tokyo, Singapore, Berlin, New York. I got connected to consumers, and I heard their voices. One recurring theme was the small, affordable luxuries — the treat that elevates your daily life that you can dip into and feel good. That lingered in my head a little bit.
Then there was a light bulb moment. In winter 2012-13, I was walking through the streets of central London craving a hot chocolate, and I couldn’t get one. The ones that were on offer were just not to my liking. They were too dark, too sweet. I couldn’t customize them, and I sensed they were of low quality. All this coming together inspired me to look into chocolate. What’s missing and what can I add from my passion? … I sensed there was a demand for something that doesn’t exist. I thought, let’s just do it. So, I opened the first store in Rye in April 2013. It was hard work. I learned from day one to hit the ground running.
Now, we have 27 [stores] in the U.K., three in the Middle East, two in Dubai and one in Abu Dhabi. And of course, I was in Salt Lake City last [month] and stood in the first U.S. store.
With such a wide variety of percentages offered, how should someone choose their first drink?
If you walk into one of our stores anywhere in the world, [it’s] the same menu structure. You will be in front of 18 different chocolates you can choose from and different temperatures as well as different textures — milkshake, iced chocolate, frozen hot chocolate, the classic hot chocolates — and then a whole list of ingredients.
[It can be] quite an overwhelming amount of menu items. You can either speak to one of our tastemakers and ask for a recommendation, or we also have guidance on the walls where you will be introduced to the concept of what we call Knoopology: assembling your perfect chocolate drink according to your taste, your occasion, your dietary requirements. Whatever brings you into Knoops, we will have the perfect chocolate.
I’m at the forefront of testing. I’m drinking chocolates all day long, … and then I have some co-pilots with me that tell me, “No, you’re wrong, I really like it,” and then we debate over more chocolates. I test chocolates [that are] coming in from every corner of the world, from Vietnam, Thailand, Uganda, Paraguay; I had a tasting from Ecuador recently. It’s fantastic because you always learn something, and then we make a decision: Do we actually have enough space on the menu wall for those? That’s my limiter. I had been told that’s it; you can’t have any more, otherwise it would be out of control.
Most foreign brands launch in New York or L.A., but you chose Salt Lake City. What did you see here that others might miss?
Utah has a really aspirational food scene. We’ve seen, especially in the area of 9th & 9th, so many fantastic cafes and restaurants. There’s quite an amazing choice you have there. You’re very lucky. We thought it fits really well in there without being right in the middle of New York or LA. That comes later. … It’s good to start with everything in a culture that really appreciates chocolate and chocolate drinks, and then see where we take it from there. … Certain ingredients you could get in Salt Lake City, you can’t get over here. I will be there right from the beginning, understanding if there is something that works really well with the chocolates we can add to our drinks.
Here in Utah, there’s something really popular called a “dirty soda.” Did you know about that going into it, or is this just a beautiful coincidence?
Utahns have approached us [wanting a location in Utah], and they have referenced the dirty soda culture: that there is a demand for customization, for making it your own drink, and that they said chocolate would fit in there really nicely. … You called, we answered.
I absolutely get it. It’s about customization. It’s about choices. I went to a dirty soda place, and I had a guide and fantastic customer service. I’m used to choices, but that was next level. And it really was an experience. I completely get the concept, and it really is not too dissimilar from what we do — just a different ingredient. It’s to make a drink for everybody, and I think that aligns very well with the dirty soda culture.
I always say that we’re adding something; we’re not replacing something. We’re adding something to the culinary scene, and we want to fit in. … We are making the whole food scene more interesting by adding something very unique that has been around for a long time, but just adding something to it: more choices.
Knoops is hoping to open 3,000 stores worldwide by 2030. Where do Salt Lake and the U.S. fit in that roadmap?
There’s a strong focus on our growth. We are very ambitious because we have so many inquiries globally, and Salt Lake is our springboard in the U.S. When I was driving through Utah, the vastness of it reminds me of the possibilities in the U.S. The U.K. is small; we’re doing really well, but you’re going 100 yards and there’s something completely different. Whereas in the U.S., there are so many opportunities you can explore.
Tell me about the supply chain and where the beans come from. How do you verify sourcing?
I go out to the farms. I meet the farmers. I make sure they’re treated correctly, paid correctly. I make conscious choices about where the cacao is coming from, as usually these are the areas that can be difficult. I explore how children are being educated, because I have seen child labor and I have made a decision not to work with these people. … It’s my name on the stores. I am responsible for what we are selling in the stores. I don’t want customers to worry about this. I want this to be a worry-free environment where you can just have fun, indulge or connect.
I make lifelong friends, especially in Venezuela at the moment. I’ve been in constant contact with them and support them to rebuild as well by starting fundraisers. That’s the sustainability story.
For anyone who’s going to be coming to the grand opening, what do you want them to walk out feeling after experiencing Knoops, maybe for the first time?
That they had the best chocolate drinks they ever had. That’s it. With the food scene in Salt Lake City, the bar’s high. But I’m very confident, based on the feedback we get from all the other stores, that we have refined it to such a level that we can aim for that, then adapt to the local food scene.
This is a very surreal moment and it’s a team effort because I do need a whole team to bring this — my vision, my passion — to Utah and make it possible. … We certainly want to incorporate local producers as well, to collaborate with them because we are part of their community.
The best feedback I got when I opened is that people walked out and came back just to stick their head around the corner and say, “This is the best thing I ever had.” You can’t pay for that. That’s just incredible.
