FAQs

Why are we still talking about chocolate when there’s so much else happening in the world?   

I think we all need to give ourselves permission to take a moment each day for self-care, whether that be enjoying some special treats for yourself, or purchasing chocolates as a gift for your loved ones. We’re going to continue to stay in touch with you to showcase all our favourites plus our special seasonal ranges. You can also reach out to our customer service team on live chat if you need advice. Stay safe.

Paul Ryan – Chief Chocolatier, The Chocolate Box

Our team is working hard to fulfill your order as quickly as possible, while making safety our top priority. 

We’ve implemented additional hygiene and distancing measures at our warehouse and in our stores on the advice of our safety consultants, Worksafe and the VIC & NSW Department of Health, including:

- Split shifts, with extended hours

- Cleaning schedules prioritising contact areas such as high touch surfaces such as door handles, counter tops

- Encouraging customers to make payment by contactless card wherever possible and prevent colleagues need to handle cash

- Social distancing 

- Barrier screens in some locations 

- Mask-wearing

- Hand sanitiser at every workstation & in-store

- Guidelines to limit number of customers in-store

We always have complimentary gift cards available to add to your order during the checkout process. In the "shopping cart" page before clicking the "checkout" button, scroll down the page and write your message for the recipient into the space provided next to "Your Gift Card Message". During Christmas and Easter we have seasonal gift cards available to suit your purchase.

Compounded chocolate is made with vegetable fat instead of cocoa butter, and since chocolate derives a lot of its flavour from the cocoa butter component, compounded chocolate does not have the same rich flavour. The most expensive ingredient in chocolate is cocoa butter, and the use of vegetable fat substitute means that compounded chocolate is also much cheaper to produce.

We are constantly adding new products to our range, especially seasonal ranges such as Christmas, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Valentines Day and Easter. Occasionally your favourites sell out quickly so please enquire if you can’t find what you are looking for.

We currently accept Visa, Mastercard and Paypal. 

Please contact your nearest Chocolate Box store or order online at chocolatebox.com.au. We also have a limited range available at our stockists. 

Chocolate should be stored in a cool place at room temperature away from strong light. We don't recommend refrigeration of couverture chocolate, which is used in most The Chocolate Box products. The other type of chocolate, called compound, is a more robust but generally not as high quality type of chocolate that may be less affected by refrigeration. Chocolate should be kept away from extremes of heat and cold, and away from strongly smelling foods like onions.

CARING FOR CHOCOLATE

Below are some helpful hints on the care of your chocolate.

Store the product in a cool, dry and ventilated room.
Keep away from strong light temperature: 14-22° centigrade, humidity: preferably less than 50%.

Use air conditioning where possible and avoid fluctuations in temperature as these may cause condensation to the product. Avoid dampness as the chocolate develops a sugar bloom when moisture collects on the surface of the chocolate. Chocolate stored in overly warm conditions will show fat bloom, which is caused when stable cocoa butter crystals melt, reform as the unstable variety and then transform back to larger crystals that appear on the surface. Neither type of bloom renders the chocolate unusable. It just doesn't look as fresh.

If you need to refrigerate, place chocolates in an airtight container then wrap the container in a towel before placing in the fridge. When you wish to use the chocolate remove from fridge, leaving container wrapped in the towel, until it has warmed to room temperature. It will then be less likely that blooming will occur.

Follow our detailed instructions below to perfectly temper high quality chocolate:

1. Using a double-boiler, or two saucepans of varying size, place the chocolate pieces in the smaller saucepan. Fill the second saucepan with water and heat to a low temperature of approximately 45°C

2. Place the saucepan containing the chocolate over the second saucepan and allow the chocolate to melt slowly. Heat very gently, stirring regularly to avoid burning the chocolate. DO NOT allow the cooking temperature to exceed 50°C, and never heat your chocolate over a naked flame.

3. Cool chocolate to a temperature of approximately 27°C for milk chocolate, or 27°C to 28°C for dark chocolate by leaving on a marble or cold table, or by submerging your saucepan partly into cold water. Stir continually, constantly scraping the chocolate from the sides of the bowl. Take care that no water is allowed into the chocolate as the mixture will become thick and unusable.

4. Return the saucepan of chocolate to the pot of warm water, stirring constantly, raise the temperature of the chocolate to 30°C- 32°C for dark chocolate or 29°C - 31°C for milk chocolate. The chocolate is now ready for moulding or dipping. Centres for dipping should be at 20°C - 25°C.

5. Cool finished products at 14°C - 18°C in a dry place. DO NOT refrigerate, or risk condensation.

6. Unused chocolate can be removed and re-used in the above manner.

All of our chocolates sold via our online store have between a 3 - 18 month best before date. Weekly deliveries are made to our warehouse in Port Melbourne of fresh stock, due to the high turnover between our retail and online stores, especially during peak seasonal times. 

The only exception to this policy is fresh product like our seasonal winter snowballs which has a 2 to 6 week best before/use by date, with every effort made to supply our freshest dated stock to our online store. 

Fair Trade

The term "fair trade" describes cocoa products that have been certified by a certification body in order to ensure that producers in developing countries obtain improved pricing, better working conditions and sustainability. The certifying body Fair-trade, Australia and New Zealand has the following objective:

"Fair-trade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, Fair-trade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives."The Chocolate Box supports the above objectives through the association of its suppliers of cocoa products with the international organisations including World Cocoa Foundation and International Cocoa Initiative. 

For further information please refer:
International Cocoa Initiative www.worldcocoafoundation.org 
World Cocoa Foundation www.worldcocoafoundation.org

Child Slavery

The majority of our products are Palm Oil free.  For the very few products that do contain Palm Oil, it is RSPO certified Palm Oil and RSPO certificates are held. All information can be found on the ingredient information on our products.

We can include a free product sample "taster" in each order, so our online customers can try some of the delicious products we sample in our stores.

To opt-in, click on the checkbox "Yes, I would like a free sample product included with my order", located on the shopping cart page. 

Please note the sample size is only a small taster sample of our products, not a "full size" product. If a store advertised sample is unavailable on a particular week, we will substitute it with an alternate sample.

Back to Top

Simply email your question to enquiries@chocolatebox.com.au and we will endeavour to send a reply within 24 hours. Alternatively, you can ring our Melbourne head office on (03) 9676 6401.

The Chocolate Box's gift cards are available here. Please click here to read our terms and conditions.