Marasu's Petit Fours enters chocolate administration after 40 years in business
Marasu's Petit Fours, a long-established London-based manufacturer of premium chocolates, has entered chocolate administration. Administrators were appointed earlier in February and the maker confirmed the move on February 17 (ET). The business will continue as an online-only operation following a pre-arranged sale of its parent company.
What led to the chocolate administration
The specialist chocolatier traces its origins to 1987, when patissiers Rolf Kern and Gabi Kohler founded the business. In 2006 the company became part of a larger confectionery group, which helped it scale production and secure high-profile retail contracts. The firm’s Park Royal production site turns out more than 300 tonnes of chocolate each year and supplied a roster of premium food halls, department stores and high-street names.
Administrators were brought in on February 6 (ET) and the situation was publicly confirmed on February 17 (ET) as the company moved to formal insolvency procedures. Joint administrators Alessandro Sidoli and Jessica Barker of Xeinadin Corporate Recovery Limited have been appointed to manage the next steps.
Immediate impact and next steps for the business
The administration follows a pre-arranged sale of the parent company, with plans in place to shift Marasu's operations to an online-only model. That transition aims to preserve production capability while reducing the overheads associated with a flagship high-street presence that closed recently. Staff, supply agreements and customer orders are now being reviewed by the administrators as they work to stabilise operations and protect value for creditors and stakeholders.
For retailers and foodservice clients who have stocked Marasu's chocolates, the administrators say they will seek to minimise disruption. The Park Royal facility’s output and technical know-how remain valuable assets, and the pre-arranged sale is intended to keep the manufacturing capacity active even as the brand steps away from a physical retail footprint.
Wider pressures on the premium chocolate sector
The move comes amid a backdrop of rising input costs across the confectionery industry. Market research data showed chocolate prices in Great Britain climbed sharply, with an 18. 4% year-on-year increase recorded in November. The cocoa market has been under strain after poor harvests in principal growing regions over recent years, raising raw material costs for manufacturers.
Industry analysts and campaign groups have highlighted how extreme weather patterns have disrupted cacao yields, placing pressure on supply chains and pricing. Manufacturers have responded to these cost pressures in various ways, including price adjustments, operational restructuring and strategic sales and mergers to safeguard production capacity.
For Marasu's Petit Fours, the combination of elevated commodity costs and changing retail dynamics appears to have accelerated a shift away from expensive urban storefronts toward leaner, production-focused models. The administrators' focus will be on maintaining supply where possible while seeking a sustainable route forward for the brand and its workforce.
The administration marks a significant moment for a business that had become a fixture in the capital’s artisan chocolate scene since its founding nearly four decades ago. With a planned sale and an online pivot, the company’s fate will now be shaped by the administrators’ ability to balance creditor interests, customer commitments and the realities of a squeezed supply chain.
