What is hot chocolate? Only a few years ago, the answer to that would have been easy, and probably would have involved only one brand name. Now, with hot chocolate sales having risen by 9% to £85m in the last year, there is an appreciation that the drink is a serious prospect - and where the market is moving fastest is not the traditional bedtime-and-slippers sector.

Operators of modern coffee bars have known for a couple of years that hot chocolate is an extremely popular all-age everyday drink, and some coffee bars look to it for a quarter of their income. It is also a remarkably popular drink in universities, and astonishingly so at music festivals - at this year's Glastonbury event, the Fairtrade supplier Cafeology shifted three complete pallets of chocolate powder.

Hot chocolate has become a mainstream product. The decision for the caterer now is which way to play it.

At this point, the drinking-chocolate market divides very sharply into two camps. One sector argues that the British taste in chocolate is for a very low cocoa-content of perhaps 25%. The market leader falls into this category and Cadbury's gives a robust defence of its position, saying to caterers: "There is a definite taste in the UK. The rich European chocolate is largely unpalatable to most of your customers - no problem in trying it, but remember who your core market is."

It is not surprising that the two most recent launches in this hot chocolate sector have been from other big-name chocolate brands. The launch of Aero instant hot chocolate from Nestlé Foodservices was accompanied by the observation that hot chocolate is the fastest-growing sector in hot beverages, and so Aero forms an integral part of the Nescafé Coffee Company.

Nestlé says its research for Aero shows that consumers believe it to be more chocolaty and with more creaminess than other hot chocolate products. There is a branded machine that features "an advanced whipping system to ensure that the drink delivers a thick, bubbly consistency, with a rich chocolaty taste".

Meanwhile, Galaxy says: "Hoteliers looking to add a touch of luxury and prestige in every guest's room are increasingly turning to the Galaxy Instant Hot Chocolate Drink." The 22g sachet is designed specifically for hotels.

However, there is another camp which argues that no caterer should assume what the public's taste in chocolate is - because if you take the trouble to find out what they like, the answers can be surprising.

At the General Store café in Nottingham, Graham Knight has created a chocolate club of such popularity that his tasting evenings are booked up weeks in advance. The tastes of his customers do tend to support the argument that there really is a British market for high-cocoa drinks. Although Knight serves his regular hot chocolate with a 40% cocoa content, this is low compared with the tastes of his regulars.

"There is a body of customers who regularly drink our 70% chocolates. There is a market for our 60% Bonnat chocolate, which is sweetened with lime honey instead of sugar - an amazing drink. There's also a 100% Bonnat which can be mixed with milk to produce a remarkable sweetness - it's a love it or hate it chocolate," says Knight.

This sector of the chocolate market is significant enough for several cafs and restaurants to concentrate on the two richest chocolate drinks of all. One is a large bowl for dips, which when served with fruit and accompaniments can easily command 12 a serving, perhaps to be shared by two people. The other is the short shot of chocolate, served in an espresso cup.

A typical machine to cope with these is the Ciocco, from Marco. It is essentially a very simple machine that keeps the chocolate liquid by a paddle system. However, it has two benefits - the liquid can be poured undiluted as a short Continental drink or used as the base for a mocha or as a dipping chocolate. The user can opt for a proprietary chocolate or mix up a house blend using a powder.

While powder makes the best and cheapest full-flavoured hot chocolate, says Glasgow's Espresso Warehouse - which distributes the 32% Zuma chocolate powder - it is awkward to make up individually for each order. By far the best idea is to select the favourite powder for a house blend then make up a few litres before openin g each day.

One of the most aggressive recent launches in the higher-cocoa content sector was Chocolate Abyss by Espresso Warehouse. This was a 40% chocolate launched under the slogan "Chocolate isn't just for kids, and isn't just for bedtime!" Now the brand has launched a new spiced version, with cinnamon, cardamom and chilli.

Is chilli unusual? Not at all. When the Kshocolat company opened in Glasgow, before spreading south to Covent Garden, it was discovered that the macho northern males took readily to the Chilli Choc Shot, which combined 73% cocoa with a dash of ground chilli - not for the faint-hearted.

Kevin Hearn of Espresso Warehouse says the reason the British taste in chocolate differs from the richer European taste is because we have put up with what we have always been offered. "The majority of UK consumers still drink instant coffee at home but don't want the same drink when they go to a coffee shop," he says.

"The same opportunity now exists for the catering industry to educate chocolate drinkers in the same way that it has educated coffee drinkers - that there is a richer, more chocolaty, more rewarding chocolate out there and that it is worth paying extra for. You can now take your chocolate as seriously as you take your coffee."

Contacts

• Aero Hot Chocolate: 0800 742842
• Cafeology: 0870 011 9441
• Cadburys: 0800 783 2196
• Galaxy: 01942 408600
• Marco Beverage Systems: 020 7274 4577
• Barry Callebaut: 01295 224700
• Espresso Warehouse: 0141-420 2257