Monsieur Truffe
Chocolate has been a passion of Samanta’s since she was very little. It led her to study in Europe under a master chocolatier and following that, she completed courses around the world.
'When you start to love something, you try to get to know it as much as possible. It never ends.'
Monsieur Truffe is Melbourne’s first bean-to-bar chocolate maker, with chocolate made from ethically sourced beans and many tempting flavours to try. At Monsieur Truffe, there is a commitment to sharing their artisanal approach to chocolate-making with the community. With this commitment, they stand out from other chocolate shops.
The team is always looking to educate its visitors with offerings of new tastes and new ingredients for people to try.
The team at Monsieur Truffe understands the responsibility they have as a small business to the farmers and workers who produce and harvest the ingredients used in their products. From their farm-to-fork philosophy, to how products are created, everything is rustic and hands-on. The team care about what they do, which makes their products so special and unique.
'We’re a small team and we do everything by ourselves. All our products are handmade. All of our packaging is done by hand,' Samanta says.
'We love doing collaborations with different artists and shops. We regularly collaborate with The Boroughs, so every time they have an exhibition, we do a bar based on the artist and their work, choosing flavours to match the art. It’s an exciting opportunity to be creative and think outside the box.'
‘We’re able to work in small batches and try different things to make something unique. People love that there is always something new to try, and they’ll ask us, “when are you making this again because we really liked it!"'
‘Our bean-to-bar chocolates are mainly vegan, using soy or coconut milk, so our bars are creamy, rich and indulgent in a way that everyone can enjoy. We like to focus on native ingredients and use them as much as possible, and we always try to use things that are local.
‘Supporting the community and buying local is very important because it’s what makes Melbourne different. If we lost those small shops, we’d lose part of our identity.’
You can make a real difference to a small business when you shop locally.