Hotel Chocolat Hong Kong is about to launch, the first move outside Europe for the British chocolatier and cocoa grower.

It has teamed up with F&B distributor B&S HK with a plan to open several Hong Kong outlets before moving on to other destinations in Asia.

“This is the beginning of what will be potentially a huge market,” says Hotel Chocolat co-founder/chief executive Angus Thirlwell, who says its London stores had seen many Asian tourists buying their products and stuffing them into their suitcases to take home.

Hotel Chocolat, which floated last year, has 93 stores in the UK and three in Copenhagen, and is also expanding in Ireland.

It also has a luxury hotel in the Caribbean, near its Saint Lucia plantation in the West Indies.

Thirlwell says the expansion is being financed by cash flow.