Jeanette takes a quick break from the world of Planet Cocoa to tell us about how she got into chocolate, her new products, and what she loves about being at the Farmers Market.
1. Tell us how you got into Chocolate!
My first job as a pastry chef was making chocolates in a patisserie, but in every job I've worked as a pastry chef, I have always worked with mass-produced Belgian/French or Swiss chocolate. And over time, I became curious about the craft of the bean-to-bar chocolate scene.
Not only did I become curious about how chocolate was made from scratch, I also became driven to source ethical, slave-free cocoa as there is more transparency about where the beans were grown and what communities were being supported by that trade in comparison to buying mass-produced chocolate often with blurred origins.
Raw cocoa beans sourced from ethical and slave-free origins
2. What kind of chocolate products do you make and how do you get inspiration for new chocolate varieties?
All of the chocolate is made from scratch and I currently make 5 varieties used in the chocolate block flavours
- 42% oat milk chocolate
- 70% olive oil dark chocolate
- 64% dark chocolate
- 42% coffee oat milk and 25% hazelnut white chocolate
- And a 65% dark chocolate, that is specifically made for the drinking hot chocolate
Each batch of chocolate takes a whole week and starts as a whole, unroasted cocoa bean and first needs to be roasted, crushed, and separated before it can be stone ground into chocolate. The way cocoa is grown, harvested, and then roasted by me can really define the flavour so inspiration usually comes when I taste a sample batch of chocolate when I'm testing the cocoa beans and decide what possible flavours could complement it.
Planet Cocoa Chocolate in the making
3. Any new products that we should be getting excited about?
Christmas is fast approaching so there are three new flavours to look out for, perfect for gifting!
- Hazelnut pavlova white chocolate filled with meringue, raspberries and roasted hazelnuts
- Christmas rum pudding dark chocolate made by infusing the cocoa nibs in cocoa husk rum liqueur (more on that in the next question!)
- Gingerbread oat milk chocolate
All three flavours are a limited release so if you're drooling at the sound of any of these, make sure you pre-order or snap them up at a Melbourne Farmers Market!
Planet Cocoa Oat Milk Chocolate with hazelnuts
4. We know that chocolate has an environmental impact, what role does sustainability play in your business?
When making bean-to-bar chocolate, you only use the inner cocoa nib for chocolate products and are left with about 20% husk waste product - the cocoa husk is the outside skin of a cocoa bean and is practically inedible.
From the beginning of making bean-to-bar chocolate, this cocoa waste has not gone to waste but instead been upcycled by vodka and rum distilleries and even by Jam Haus (keep a lookout for her Christmas jam!).
Designing packaging that doesn't use plastic was also important so Planet Cocoa's chocolate products use kerbside recyclable paper and reusable glass jars.
Dark Drinking Chocolate in reusable glass jars
5. How can people get their hands on your chocolate?
In June, in the middle of hot chocolate season, I started with Melbourne Farmers Market. You can find me at Carlton Farmers Market and Alphington Farmers Market, follow me on Instagram to see where I'll be. As summer hits, I will likely drop off as the sun and heat aren't too kind on chocolate!
You can shop direct online at www.planetcocoa.com.au.There are a few stockists around Melbourne that have stock a range of the chocolate blocks also listed on my website.
6. How do you prepare for the markets? What does the preparation look like?
My chocolate machines run basically 24/7 churning out chocolate to be used for blocks. I have to project what flavours will be popular and plan the week ahead of production since I only have the one machine for now but during the week I spend it roasting cocoa, putting on batches of chocolate into the stone grinder (melanger), tempering chocolate for chocolate blocks and packaging the chocolate.
Somewhere between there I do admin and manage to post on social media. The morning of the market I wake up pretty early to make the hot chocolate mixes and set off looking forward to being at the market (and of course eating delicious food!!!!) 
Market Prep - Planet Cocoa chocolate in the making
7. What do you enjoy about being at the farmers market?
Being surrounded by other small businesses, it's a beautiful community to be a part of and I love talking and serving people. I have cocoa beans as part of the table display and often people come and ask what they are and it's pretty special to be able to share what cocoa beans look like and how chocolate is made!
Olive Oil Smoked Salt Planet Cocoa
8. What’s your favourite stall at the markets, is there one that you make a special effort to drop into if you're at the same market?
Oh my goodness how can I pick? I always feel so lucky when people want to swap their produce with my chocolate products and end up going home with so many veggies 🙂 Whenever I'm at the Alphington Farmers Market I make sure to get a juice from In Seasons Juice and a baked goodie from either To Be Frank or Elwood Sourdough!