World Travellers turned Chocolatiers

Who doesn’t like Chocolate and coffee? Or even better, Chocolate coated coffee beans! Imagine our delight when we searched for a chocolate maker for our NZ Gift box range and found The Chocolate barn located in our own town Waipu. And, if coffee isn’t for you how does macadamia or goji berries coated in milk or dark chocolate sound?

2019 marked the year The Chocolate Barn became a reality for microbiologist Kristine and engineer George. In their words “we can chocolate coat almost anything”.

We spoke to Kristine about her passion for chocolate.

Tell us about the origins of The Chocolate Barn?

For the best part of 30 years we travelled the world chasing our obsessions of surfing, kitesurfing, snowboarding and paragliding. Our passion for chocolate began after I took a chocolate class 15 years ago which transpired into studying at various chocolate academies and patisserie schools around the globe. We settled on ten acres in Waipu, Northland and transformed it into a permaculture farm. Soon after, our daughter had her wedding at our place in our Barn that was eventually converted in to our small chocolate factory which became The Chocolate Barn.

What kind of chocolate products do you make?

Our specialty creation is coffee beans and goji berries coated in chocolate. The technical term for chocolate coating is called ‘chocolate panning’. We use our own blend of high cocoa percentage dark and milk chocolates which are 100% palm oil free. Each pouch of chocolate coated goodness is individually handcrafted and personally perfected.

Where do you find your raw ingredients?

We source locally where at all possible: our coffee beans and macadamia nuts are supplied from roasters and growers based here in Waipu.

What are your plans for 2020?

In February this year, we won the Bronze medal for our Almonds coated in dark chocolate. It was incredible news for us, our friends and customers especially as the news came during COVID lockdown. During this time we have been creating new chocolates and dessert ranges which will be available very soon.

You can purchase The Chocolate Barn’s chocolate coated Macadamia’s as part of our Build a Box range. A perfect match with the West Coast Hot Chocolate or Caramel and Butterscotch Teaser!

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