First Chocolate Bond issued

UK-based confectioner Hotel Chocolat hopes to raise £5m by enticing some of its 100,000 Chocolate Tasting Club members, who already pay for regular home deliveries, to put their money where their mouths are. Rather than standard cash coupons on their bonds, chocolate lovers will be paid out in monthly Tasting Club chocolate boxes. For an initial layout of £2,000 or £4,000, the prospective "bondholders" can expect an annual yield of 6.72% or 7.29% respectively on the three-year bonds based on the value of the boxes of confectionery. "We have ambitious plans for the future and, when ...