Hills’s first taste of retail came in the form of Suga – a candy store chain that creates colourful confectionary before the eyes of curious onlookers. While working as a banker, Hills had developed an interest in small business. Suga was an established business where Hills frequented to buy gifts, the odd treat and to watch the confectionary makers at work. According to Hills, Suga was a business that fascinated him because it was a complete sensory experience.
“What I loved about the business was its theatrics, as I’m very much a visual person. All the confectionary is made in the shop window to attract customers passing by and it never ceased to captivate the attention of shoppers. The bright colours, the smells, the shop layout and all the details of the store reflected what I felt a candy store should be.”
Hills approached the then owner of the store with some suggestions on how he could improve the business. Instead the conversation turned towards Suga’s Chadstone store which was close to opening. Taking a leap of faith, Hills joined forces with his future wife Mirka and took over the Chadstone business only ten days later. Twelve months after that bold move Hills, together with his wife Mirka and father in law Joe Carbone (then CEO of the Victorian eye and ear hospital) took over the entire business and grew it to five outlets in a short timeframe. Hills and Carbone continue to operate Suga today.
Hills says that Koko Black was a by-product of Suga and all the elements Hills enjoyed about the business. He spent almost 18 months thinking about how he could create an experience using chocolate instead of candy. When developing a store concept, Hills thought about the characteristics of chocolate, its personality and how he could translate that into an experience that reflected its essence.
“By the time I developed a business plan, I had a very clear picture in my mind of what this experience should be,” he recalls.
“The missing piece in the equation was my technical knowledge of chocolate and an appreciation of how to create a premium-quality product. So I took myself off to Germany to do a course in chocolate making to gain a better understanding of what I needed to pull off my plan.”
“The biggest lesson I learned from doing the course was that I really needed a first-class chocolatier to help establish the business.”
After completing his course in Germany, Hills took off to Bruges in Belgium – a city renowned for producing some of the world’s finest chocolates. It was here Hills met master chocolatier Dries Cnockaert.
“I visited the best chocolate store in town called ‘The Chocolate Line’ and after relaying my plans for Melbourne to the owner he introduced me to Dries. At the time, Dries was looking for an adventure on the other side of the world, and he was inspired by our plans for Koko Black in Melbourne. It was a perfect match and nine months later he arrived in Melbourne ready for the final steps towards opening.
“Dries was responsible for developing our authentic recipes and establishing a small team of trained chocolatiers. Dries returned to Bruges after 18 months, just after our second salon opening.”
After careful planning, Hills’s vision came into realisation in December 2003 when he opened the first Koko Black store in Melbourne’s Royal Arcade.
Hills’s meticulous attention to detail in the planning phase of his business is evident to anyone who visits any Koko Black outlet today. A Koko Black ‘salon’, as Hills likes to call it, plays on the senses and is all about quality standards and attention to detail. The look and feel of the salon is warm and inviting and reflects something of yesteryear. Plush couches, classical chocolate and caramel coloured décor occupies the space together with large glass cabinets displaying culinary works of art that look almost too good to eat. Everything within Koko Black – particularly the items on the menu – exudes quality.
The menu has been described as ‘short, intense and unapologetically of the same theme’. Koko Black’s delights are a little decadent and a connoisseur’s dream. The star item on the menu is the Belgian Spoil – a platter that consists of two Belgian chocolates, chocolate cake, shortbread, chocolate mouse and chocolate ice cream.
Hills points out that chocolate lovers are of all ages and his salons cater to those who appreciate a quality handmade indulgence using pure ingredients.
Passers by can also watch the chocolatiers in the shop window lovingly creating their culinary delights in a climate-controlled kitchen. Having a window to the kitchen not only engages the customer, but it also sends a powerful message to customers that the products sold here are fresh and hand made.
In the past few years, a number of high-end chocolate-themed cafes have flourished such as Max Brenner, Xocolatl, Coco Loco, Sjokolate and Chocolateria San Churro. Hills says that it is the attention to detail and the overall quality experience that differentiates Koko Black from its competitors.
“We pay equal attention to service and product quality. We control everything from the moment the raw ingredients arrive to farewelling our guests. Almost everything that can be consumed in our salons has been made by us including our ice-cream, cake, biscuits right down to the chocolate and caramel sauces to ensure there are no compromises,” he points out.
“This means we can ensure the experience consumers receive is aligned with our vision of how it should be. It is this detail the separates us from the competition.”
Since successfully establishing his first Koko Black salon, Hills has grown the business to six stores including one in Canberra. Expanding such a highly specialised operation is no small feat; however Hills says that it has gone relatively smoothly.
“Growing a business is always tough and Koko Black is no exception. From the outset we decided that we were not prepared to compromise on what had made our first salon so successful. Fortunately, from day one we have had an excellent team of specialists and this has been instrumental to our success. Much of our success has come down to our strong energy and passion,” Hills says.
“To make the operation efficient, without making concessions on standards, we decided to set up a central kitchen similar to a pastry kitchen, where we have a number of chocolatiers making a variety of items off the menu.
“Each store orders a week ahead and the products are delivered fresh the following week. Nowadays, about 60 percent of our product is made in our central kitchen and 40 percent is made onsite by our chocolatiers.
