Murrumbateman Chocolate Company launches

On Friday night she launched the Murrumbateman Chocolate Company, which incorporates a new range of chocolates, but also introduces an overarching brand.

Yasmin and her husband Alistair, the former ACT Opposition leader, last year bought a rural property near Murrumbateman that included the long-running business Robyn Rowe Chocolates. Yasmin brought to the venture her own skill in chocolate-making and her own boutique chocolate brand Sweet Pea and Poppy.

Murrumbateman Chocolate Company is about grounding the business in the region, and celebrating its own growing food and wine sector.

"We've created the Murrumbateman Chocolate Company really as the home of Robyn Rowe Chocolates and Sweet Pea and Poppy, recognising both are beautiful, distinct brands that have each earned their own following in their own right. They complement each other beautifully," Yasmin said.

"But I think we needed one succinct brand to house them both and that's where the idea for the Murrumbateman Chocolate Company was born.

"I love this region so I was really proud to use the name Murrumbateman. I think it ties in a collective that is far better as the sum of many parts."

The Murrumbateman Chocolate Company will use local ingredients to come up with interesting taste combinations.

Their handmade selection of chocolates includes some with whiskey from Gillies Bros Distillery at Yass (in a truffle) and wine from surrounding Murrumbateman wineries and even olive oil from Clonakilla.

"We also collaborate with Cosmorex coffee in Canberra and we've just launched an new espresso martini truffle which completely sold out on the long weekend, so we've made a lot more of that," Yasmine said, with a laugh. "So that uses two local products - Cosmorex coffee beans and Underground Spirit's caramel vodka."

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