We’ve all watched him struggling to set up his business – now you can meet this cocoa evangelist in person. Emma Pinch reports

AFTER years of grinding, tasting and blending, he’s finally hit on the winning formula for what he considers the best chocolate in the world.

Willie – star of Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory – Harcourt-Cooze can now stroll though the aisles of his local Waitrose and revel in the proof he’s one of the first Britons since Cadbury to successfully grow, process, package and sell his own chocolate.

It’s a wrap – well, almost.

After the TV series, he went on to source 1920s machines and build a new factory in Devon. His trials and tribulations had only just begun.

“I had 25 tons of the wrong beans delivered and machines breaking down,” he says.

“One of our biggest bridges to cross was that we don’t have a wrapping machine because we were let down by the company refurbishing it. We’ve had to wrap by hand, staying until 12am.” He sighs: “That has huge financial implications because it affects supply.”

Willie’s message to the country is to not to hold back when it comes to chocolate. It’s contrary to the Government’s demands that we ditch the simple pleasure, drowning its enjoyment with statistics about artery-clogging fat and calorie content.

“I’m not talking about chocolate with vegetable fat added or milk powder added, which is really fat, and lots of sugar,” he explains. “If you eat chocolate, it should be good for you, because it is full of vitamins and minerals.”

So far, Willie’s made 10,000 of his Venezuelan 72% Rio Caribe bars and “a few thousand” of his Peruvian 70% San Martin bars.

Although Britain is becoming more curious about different types and qualities of chocolate now, he says, our tastes for the substance have largely been dictated by the limited choice on the market.

He’ll be sharing his findings about the pleasures and health benefits of quality chocolate twice a day at the Liverpool One Easter Chocolate Fair, running from Wednesday, April 8-11.