Ruth Hinks

Why organisations work with Ruth Hinks

• She is the first woman to win UK Chocolate Masters and produced the highest UK finish on record at the World Chocolate Masters final in Paris, a credential that lands in any room.
• She has built and run Cocoa Black since 2008 across retail, production, cafe, and a chocolate and pastry school, giving her a working operator’s view of a specialist food business rather than a theory of one.
• She brings hands-on culinary content to client hospitality and product launches, which most keynote speakers cannot offer.
• Her career has run from Head Pastry Chef at the Windsor Hotel in Melbourne and the Sheraton Grand Hotel Edinburgh to international competition and television, giving her credibility across hospitality, retail, and broadcast settings.

Biography highlights

• First woman to win UK Chocolate Masters, 2012.
• Top-five finish at the World Chocolate Masters final in Paris, 2013, the highest UK result recorded at the time.
• Founder of Cocoa Black, Peebles, established 2008; chocolate and pastry school opened by HRH Prince Edward in 2016.
• Former Head Pastry Chef at the Windsor Hotel, Melbourne and the Sheraton Grand Hotel Edinburgh.
• Named Australian Pastry Chef of the Year early in her Melbourne career.
• Expert judge, BBC Two’s The Hairy Bikers’ Chocolate Challenge; featured in Netflix’s Extreme Chocolate Makers.

Biography

Cocoa Black opened in Peebles in 2008. From a single Scottish border town it has grown into a chocolate and patisserie business that runs retail, production, a cafe, and a school, with international competition credibility behind it. The founder has held every line in the operation.

Ruth Hinks made her name in competition before the business expanded. In 2012 she became the first woman to win UK Chocolate Masters. A year later she finished in the top five at the World Chocolate Masters final in Paris, the strongest UK result on record at that time. The result put a small Peebles operation on the international map for the craft.

Her hospitality grounding came earlier. She was named Australian Pastry Chef of the Year in Melbourne, where she ran the pastry kitchen at the 5-star Windsor Hotel, then moved to head the pastry section at the Sheraton Grand Hotel Edinburgh. She trained with Cacao Barry and studied under Albert Roux, technical roots that show up in Cocoa Black’s product range and in the school’s curriculum.

The Pastry School in Peebles was opened by HRH Prince Edward in 2016. Hinks has appeared as expert judge on BBC Two’s The Hairy Bikers’ Chocolate Challenge and produced a chocolate showpiece for Chatsworth House in Netflix’s Extreme Chocolate Makers, work that has put a specialist craft business in front of a far larger audience than the trade alone.

Key speaking topics

• Building a specialist food and drink brand
• Entrepreneurship in craft-led businesses
• Competition standards in chocolate and patisserie
• Hospitality leadership in 5-star kitchens
• Product innovation and chocolate development
• Skills development and culinary education
• Women in elite culinary competition

Ideal for

• Food and beverage industry conferences and supplier events
• Hospitality leadership teams and luxury hotel groups
• Corporate client hospitality, gala dinners, and product launches that benefit from craft content alongside a keynote
• Founder and entrepreneur audiences in specialist consumer businesses

Audience outcomes

• A close-range view of what international competition standards demand of a craft operator.
• A founder’s account of building a specialist food business across retail, production, and education from a small town base.
• Specific examples of how product, brand, and training can sit inside a single small business.
• Hospitality and kitchen leadership lessons drawn from 5-star pastry roles.