Shiny tanks of molten chocolate stand guard over a factory floor where three production lines squirt, chill and fill festive treats into existence. Production of Hotel Chocolat's Christmas selection starts in June at its factory in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and finishes several weeks before Christmas, when it switches to making Valentine's Day and Easter delicacies. Christmas is by far the busiest time of year for Hotel Chocolat's shops, where sales easily outstrip Easter, the traditional time for a chocolate binge. This year, robots have been shouldering a bigger share of the work in making peanut butter and jelly confectionery and batons of dark chocolate as the company copes with rising costs that led it to report an annual loss this year, after a bumper time during the coronavirus pandemic, when sales jumped by two-thirds over two years. On one production line, workers in hairnets and white coats sprinkle florentine and biscuit pieces into moulds for chocolate Christmas wreaths.