MayHawk Leadership
Conner Haines
Senior Partner
Founded the company in London in 2007. Before becoming a chocolate maker, Conner worked as a writer, photographer, and artist. Years of travel — and discovering the emerging bean-to-bar movement — led to his determination to build an innovative British chocolate company with a global reputation. Conner leads the Design Studio and Chocolate Lab.
Jak Jones
Partner
Jak leads Production, Retail and Operations at MayHawk. He joined the company in 2017, bringing with him a background in marketing, staff development, and team leadership. His passion lies in finding stunning new ingredients and working with extraordinary people. On becoming partner Jak became responsible for building direct relationships with ethical supply chain partners and retail partners around the world.
About MayHawk
In the early 2000s, incredible work was already underway by a small but growing movement of craft chocolate makers in the US and UK — passionate individuals collaborating to make chocolate better and more ethical.
Similarly inspired, in 2007, we set out to create beautiful chocolate by design, using exceptional ingredients, an ethical supply chain, and precise craft.
Nearly two decades on, we continue to focus on simplicity, design, natural ingredients, ethical sourcing, environmental responsibility, and a lasting respect for how our products are made.
Our chocolate
At MayHawk, we understand the emotional role chocolate can play: at times a thoughtful gift, at others a quiet moment of joy. We craft our chocolate with this in mind, making these moments more meaningful and quietly memorable. Whether our chocolate is shared or kept, through innovation and attention to small details, we aim to create something that brings delight and connects us together.
Two Creative Departments
MayHawk has operated from the very beginning with two core creative arms: the Chocolate Lab and the Design Studio. Together, this synergy forms the ‘Hardware’ and ‘Software’ foundation of our company.
Steve Jobs at Apple often stressed the importance of building both hardware and software under one company roof. And he frequently cited Alan Kay’s maxim: “People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware.”
At MayHawk, we hold a similar ambitious philosophy. For us this means fully integrating the production of our chocolate with a research and design led philosophy. Both the Lab and the Studio work seamlessly together to put designs and processes in place – leading to the creation of beautifully crafted products which bring joy.
The Chocolate Lab
The Chocolate Lab is where the natural raw materials to make chocolate are taken seriously – studied, questioned, and reimagined – the best work we do here is put into production.
We begin with origin. The genetics of the cacao, the soil it grows in, and the way it is harvested and fermented — these all shape the final expression of the chocolate.
And this is where we test new ingredient pairings, reinterpret established ones, and develop the unique flavour profiles that evolve from first taste to final note.
A significant part of our time is also taken up researching and experimenting new processes and methods – like our natural fermentation techniques that reveal hidden notes; or our new roasting profiles that enhance nuance and character.
Although we are also aware that new does not always mean better. Our new has to be better. This is a clear touchstone for our own expectations.
The Chocolate Lab is also responsible for growing some of our own organic ingredients, within a large greenhouse at our production facility.
The Design Studio
The Design Studio exists to describe the values of MayHawk in physical form.
It is in the Studio where we create and define the overall experience — from the look and feel of the recyclable packaging, to the size and weight of the chocolate moulds, to the cadence of the typography and the creativity and impact of our artwork.
Yet, the Design Studio is also about the many other little details it works on, from every web page written in code, to every image and video we take, this is all created in-house, and shaped with the same discipline and care.
We believe design is about function, and that every material used should be selected with intention, with environmental responsibility in mind. Every line, fold, and proportion is there to support the product and enrich the experience. And the original artwork we create, or commission, gives MayHawk both a voice and a momentum.
In the Design Studio we believe in simplicity, removing the unnecessary, so that what remains feels deliberate – design should speak quietly, but also with purpose.