From the pristine Pacific archipelago of the Solomon Islands, Solomons Gold Chocolate hand-select the best cacao beans and handcraft them in New Zealand to create a chocolate that is as pure as the Pacific.
What is your company background, how did you start the business?
Solomons Gold founder, Clive Carroll first visited the Solomon Islands back in 2004 with a view to being involved in the growing and processing of cocoa when his love of high-quality dark chocolate became more than a passion. Clive came across a group of run-down cocoa plantations, and with agriculture firmly in his DNA from his father’s avocado farming enterprises, it ignited a passion to bring these cocoa plantations back to life.
Solomon Gold cacao beans are grown organically, utilising the traditional growing and harvesting methods the Solomon Islands people have used for decades. It is these farmers and their communities that remain at the very heart of our passion for chocolate.
Embracing traditional roasting and artisan techniques, and using only natural ingredients, all of our chocolates are handcrafted by our team in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It is what we don’t put into our chocolate that makes us special.
What is the current product range and variants and how do these products stand out in the market?
We have two ranges:
- Classic Range (55g bars)
- Velvet Range (85g) that has the addition of organic coconut virgin oil.
We make our chocolate from single-origin cacao beans, which means the beans come from a single farm or region in the pristine Solomon Islands. Our chocolate is handcrafted in Mount Maunganui, New Zealand. We are bean-to-bar which means we proudly manage the entire journey from cacao tree to chocolate bar.
Our chocolate is vegan, keto-friendly, paleo, Kosher certified and free from dairy, gluten, nuts, soy. Our chocolate is rich in superfood goodness and antioxidants. It’s what we don’t put into our chocolate that makes us a special, we proudly only use natural and a maximum of three different ingredients in our chocolate.
What are the plans for the business moving forward, is there any expansion on the horizon?
We would love to expand and create a destination within the Bay of Plenty where people could come and visit our chocolate factory!
Where are your products currently available to buy, and are you looking at or wanting to expand your availability?
New World and independent stockists throughout New Zealand.
For more information visit solomonsgold.co.nz and follow on Facebook and Instagram.
