PODCAST EPISODE 41: Drew Maddison, beekeeper and co-owner of Ministry of Chocolate, Croydon, Australia
Other than bees and honey of course, there are two other things that I love dearly – small business and CHOCOLATE! Ministry of Chocolate is a family-owned and run business based on Croydon, Victoria, producing high-quality chocolate made on-site and supplied to a number of businesses across Melbourne, including luxury hotels, wineries and specialty chocolate stores. The Ministry started out at local farmer’s markets across the city, before husband-and-wife team Drew and Karin Maddison found it increasingly difficult to produce their wares at home with two young boys wanting to taste test EVERYTHING! At that time, they took the brave but worthwhile leap and opened a large-scale kitchen. (Believe me, if I were their sons, I too would want to taste test all their delicious chocolates!) So, from one sweet tooth to another (and I know there are a lot of you out there), I am blissful to introduce you to co-owner of the Ministry of Chocolate and beekeeper Drew Maddison for episode 41 of the BEES WITH BEN beekeeping podcast.
For Drew, his love of chocolate started when he was just a little tacker. The smell of melted chocolate would hover over his schoolyard from a local chocolate shop; and Roald Dahl’s Charlie and Chocolate Factory was a definite well-loved read in his bookshelf. When Drew and Karin met while working for a large-scale bakery in Melbourne, they never imagined that some years down the line they would be running a high-end chocolate business together with a penchant for local produce: “We pride ourselves on using locally grown ingredients where possible. Our strawberries are form the Mornington Peninsula, our Almonds from South Australia and even our Salt from the Murrey River. But our pride and joy is being able to use our every own honey in our honeycomb chunks and bars.” Drew and Karin keep their own hives in the outdoor courtyard section of their factory space in Melbourne’s east. And they LOVE their bees: “It’s great having bees – it’s similar to watching goldfish in a tank, however there are 60,000 of them, and their much smarter too! Also knowing your helping the environment and supporting the bee numbers is important to us.”
Tune in to hear Drew and I chat about all things chocolate, bees, running a small business and our joyful business collaborations.
www.ministryofchocolate.com.au 
www.bensbees.com.au