Nothing tastes quite like a square of real chocolate, the smell alone is so decadent. Luckily for us, residents of the Central West can indulge anytime with a bite of the real stuff, all thanks to Matt Chimenti. He always says
“If eating Chocolate is your weakness, make it your strength”.
Origin Chocolate was founded in 2014 after Matt moved from Perth to Orange. The food and wine culture of the Colour City sparked a fire in Matt. After months of trial and error a delicious bar of chocolate was made. Matt took his product to markets while building his brand at trade shows. Origin was snapped up by commercial customers, and has been popping up on shelves ever since.
“Origin Chocolate is for the purest, for the lovers of chocolate. It’s all about working with the natural flavours cacao and exploring the world one origin at a time”.
Business hasn’t come without it challenges, Matt had to fight for his brand name Origin Chocolate. “I went up against Mars international the makers of Mars Bar to get the trademark across the line and did so successfully”.
As a former pastry chef and miner Matt combines his skills in heavy machinery and the kitchen to create his product. Origin Chocolate is far cry from the commercial chocolate available in supermarkets. Matt is all about quality when it comes to his chocolate, he meticulously hand selects the cacao beans that will be used to create his bars.
“Commercial chocolate makers use low quality beans and then add in crap to mask the true flavour”.
It used to take a whole week to create one bar of Origin Chocolate, however a recent facelift in the factory now sees over 500 bars of chocolate made in an hour. The beans are sorted and roasted before undergoing a series of stages, which eventually transform the beans into a bar, now that’s food for thought!
There’s no guilt attached to indulging on of Origin Chocolate, Matt strives to keep his chocolate free from nasties including soy and refined sugar. After much experimentation, Matt has also branched out into a new range of chocolate and products including Salted Mylk Chocolate, which are allergy friendly, plant based and dairy free.
Origin Chocolate sources beans from Fiji, Papua New Guinea & the Solomon Islands.
Sink your teeth into some local chocolate by heading here.
