Frequently Asked Questions
Because we're super fussy about chocolate and only deal in the top 5% of chocolate in the world - the best of the best. Unfortunately, only a small fraction of chocolate produced delivers an exceptional taste experience - because the flavour beans required to make great chocolate are rare, as is the art and science of the maker. This tiny percentage of great chocolate - that's what we religiously research, source, taste test and make available to you.
No. We specialise in researching and sourcing the best chocolate in the world from artisan bean to bar producers and make these available to you in one place, at Fiamma Chocolate.
Yes yes yes yes!
We love our bean to bar chocolate makers - they are the passionate, obsessive, scientific, artisans who make chocolate magic happen.
Bean to bar chocolate making means the maker is involved in every single step from the bean through to the final bar. From selecting the cocoa beans (for their very specific flavour profile) to how they are fermented and dried, through to receiving them and roasting, conching and making into a very unique, small batch craft product.
The opposite to bean to bar chocolate, is where the maker (sometimes called a moulder) has purchased the chocolate from a distributor - often a very large distributor - and they melt and mould their product from that.
Pro tip: bean to bar is a great thing to look out for on packaging for something that may be good quality.
Of course there are some other chocolate seller's who also deal in great chocolate - and whilst our range is unique for its exceptional quality there's definitely some other great chocolate out there.
Unfortunately, there is also a lot of 'wolves in sheep's clothing' i.e. that claims to be great chocolate, and is priced highly, but - when you eat it - well ... it's not so great.
I'm passionate about educating chocolate lovers on how to identify the good stuff v the 'wolves in sheep's clothing' and provide some resources around this. We spend a lot of time during my Chocolate Master Classes working on your chocolate detective skills along with a deeper understanding and tasting; alternatively I do post content of this nature on my YouTube channel if you would like some 100% free tips and tricks on how to find the best chocolate out there.
Great pick up, and I'll let you into a little secret. Most people think that Belgian and/or Swiss chocolate is the best in the world - but I'd argue, this isn't the case. Belgian and Swiss chocolate however are very well marketed.
You do find a lot of chocolate professionals selling Belgian chocolate, but generally this means they have purchased chocolate from a very large (Belgian) distributor of chocolate and they melt this down and mould it into their product.
That's fine, but we prioritise working with artisan bean to bar chocolate makers who are involved in every step of the process, from selecting very specific flavour beans, to how the beans are grown and processed through to receiving them and roasting, winnowing, coaching - and creating true craft chocolate.
YES! Whilst I promote Fiamma Life as being first and foremost about flavour and experience - you cannot ignore ethics. All of the chocolate we stock is of the highest ethics, with genuine community empowerment - however this is often not the case with other chocolate. Something many of us are unaware of is chocolate is a very dark industry with some horribly unethical practices behind it including exploitation, poverty, slave labour and even child abduction, forced child labour and deaths. (The latest figures from Ghana and the Ivory Coast estimate 1.6 million children working in the industry, up to 64% ages 10-14 and at least 17,000 as forced labour.) Sadly, the reality is, if you are buying chocolate and you do not know - or cannot find out - it’s provenance, you may be contributing to this problem.
Which is why having a trusted source for chocolate is important, because we do the work to ensure it is ethical, and you can sit back and enjoy guilt free chocolate.
Yep! Just because you're plant based it doesn't mean you have to compromise on your chocolate quality.
All of our dark chocolate is vegan (although most will note it's made in factories that also process milk chocolate) which means you get the flavour profile from the world's best.
To make it easier, we have a vegan chocolate category https://fiammachocolate.com.au/collections/vegan
Great question - the short answer is in a cool dry place - which means unless you live somewhere really hot not in the fridge! The fridge is too cold and a little too humid - whereas chocolate is best enjoyed at room temperature!
Oh, and keep your chocolate away from anything smelly - chocolate is pourous and will absorb the smell of your blue cheese or spices if kept next to.
Check out our blog post - how do I store my chocolate - to learn more.
Payment
Absolutely. We accept Afterpay on all purchases, excluding subscriptions and B2B purchases (both are against Afterpay rules).
At checkout, click to expand the payment options, click 'alternative payment methods' and checkout with Afterpay as per normal, and pay in four easy installments.
Aside from Afterpay we accept all credit card payments, PayPal and Apple Pay as standard.
Let us know if you would like to bank transfer.
For our corporate gifts, we happily invoice you if you prefer this to credit card payment.
Shipping
Shipping starts at $10 and will be calculated at checkout, including Express Post options.
We do offer free standard shipping over $120 so stock up and save! At times we offer free shipping offers, so make sure you subscribe to stay up-to-date with offers.
Yes, we do - just enter the details at checkout.
We do offer same day delivery in Melbourne metropolitan area for very reasonable rates.
Please get in touch to request - although please note, because of the logistics involved of preparing the order and ensuring a courier is booked - same day orders need to be received and confirmed by 11am. Thanks for your understanding :)
Note - as we are based in Melbourne, that is the only location we can offer same day delivery for - however, Express Post works well for next day delivery. Any questions, get in touch.
Yep. Just get in touch and we’ll let the internet make magic happen. Of course, additional postal charges will apply.
Ah, yes - as a Chocolate Dealer we have a love/hate relationship with summer.
We have a chocolate hot weather policy - that we recommend you check out - but in short, we do everything we can to protect your chocolate from summer heat.
However, obviously heat and chocolate do not mix well and we may delay your delivery by a day or two to wait for the temperature to drop.
We also strongly recommend your chocolate is delivered to an address where it can be received immediately (i.e. a business address) - it should never be left on a door step in hot sun. If in doubt add a note at check-out for specific delivery instructions or get in touch to discuss.
Please read the policy above for further details.
MONTHLY CHOCOLATE SUBSCRIPTION MEMBERSHIP
With your monthly chocolate subscription, you get more than just chocolate delivered to your door. You become an exclusive member of our chocolate community and receive:
- 3 full-sized artisan bars, or similar, every month
- detailed tasting notes and stories behind each chocolate
- exclusive member offers and discounts
No, where would be the fun in that? This is a journey of chocolate discovery so each month we’ll send you two new chocolates - because how else are you going to find your next favourite.
Of course, if you fall in love with a particular chocolate (or chocolates) you can add additional chocolate into your monthly chocolate subscription - see above.
Both are great options however with a subscription service you get more than just chocolate delivered to you. You become a member of the Fiamma Chocolate Community and with that we will take you on a journey exploring two new chocolates every month - things you may not have thought to order, or thought you’d like.
We also include tasting notes and the stories behind each chocolate. You have access to our closed online community and to monthly Live Tastings. You will receive exclusive discounts and offers only available to our member community, a gift on your birthday. Plus, it’s super convenient - you set it up and forget and our chocolate elves get to work every month to deliver chocolate to your door. So you get a lot of extras and the opportunity to try new things.
As a monthly chocolate subscription member, you can of course buy chocolate from our online chocolate store at any time (and can even add to your monthly delivery) and you always save 5%.
Whereas ordering from our online chocolate store is awesome, and you can tailor to your needs - when you want - and have the same great chocolate delivered to you in anywhere in Australia, just you don't get the full subscription member experience (but we will still treat you be pretty good!).
At this stage no. It's really easy to order your ol' fav every few weeks, but the intent of our monthly chocolate subscription is to take you on a deep dive adventure of the world's best chocolate - experiencing, learning and hopefully falling in love with chocolate you would never have known existed.
We also encourage everyone to be open minded about what you like. We hear a lot 'I only eat chocolate above 70%' or 'I only eat milk chocolate' - but time and time again I see that person who says they don't like dark chocolate, for example, falls in love with a 75% when they have the good stuff.
We are working on an offer to customise your subscription but there's a lot of logistics behind this.
At this stage we do accommodate vegan options - plus you can add your fav chocolates to your subscription delivery. Likewise, some of our best sellers have a product specific subscription available - where we send you that product every month.
IKR, so many choices - if you have questions get in touch at hello@fiamma.life.
Absolutely! Who doesn’t need (or want) extra chocolate? Plus, save by adding the extra to your existing subscription shipment. (Note: if your ‘extras’ weight exceeds 300g, a small postage cost will apply - approximately $4).
To order extra chocolate to be added to your subscription:
1. go to www.fiamma.life/shop and add your extra chocolate to the cart.
2. at check-out enter the promotion code EXTRA
3. this will calculate a ZERO cost at checkout - go through the checkout process
4. we’ll calculate your chocolate cost + any additional postage + your 5% discount
5. we’ll charge your card on file with the total and send you an invoice to confirm
6. if we don't have a card saved on file, we'll email you an invoice with a link to pay
6. if you need to use a different card, just place your order and get in touch
To order chocolate at another time, check out and add your exclusive member discount code MEMBER to always get 5% off your chocolate.
As cheap as we can make it. Just $10.00 per delivery - anywhere in Australia as standard shipping.
Absolutely, who wouldn’t love a monthly chocolate delivery for a gift? Plus this is the the gift that keeps on giving every month (which means they'll think you're pretty awesome too!).
Simply add the recipient name and address in the shipping details + any gift note to include in the first delivery - and we'll make the gift magic happen.
We ship monthly chocolate subscriptions twice a month - on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month and depending on the date you signed up, we post closest to that. For example, if you signed up on Thursday 30th July 2020, your subscription will be sent on the 1st Tuesday of the month. However, if you signed
Once we ship you’ll receive tracking details so you know when to expect your chocolate goodness
Payment is subscription based, so the system calculates it on a monthly cycle based on when you sign up.
If you have a monthly subscription you can cancel at any time - no one likes to be locked in! If you have a longer subscription you can cancel at the end of the subscription.
You should be able to manage this yourself, refer to the email you received when you signed up - but if you can't find this and/or it's not working - just send us an email at hello@fiammachocolate.com.au and we’ll get it sorted and confirm for you.
Absolutely, we all have periods where life gets in the way of chocolate delivery, so just let us know either by logging into your subscription account (refer tot he email you received on sign up) or drop us a line at hello@fiammachocolate.com.au and we'll organise it for you.
Even if you’re on a longer subscription, we’ll happily pause and restart it when you’re ready so that you get your full period of chocolate.
We love this question - because if you're plant based you don’t have to go and seek a vegan specific chocolate to enjoy chocolate - all quality dark chocolate has no animal products and is therefore vegan (although most will note they are produced in a factory that also processes milk).
If you’d like a vegan subscription tick the box on the monthly chocolate subscription form and we’ll tweak each month’s offering for you to make sure you don’t get any milk chocolate, although you may get repeat chocolates on occasion. We’ll also try to pick up both chocolates you have received in the monthly Live Tastings so you don’t miss out!
We also have a vegan chocolate category for our chocolate on our online chocolate store.
You should be able to manage this yourself, refer to the email you received when you signed up - but if you can't find this and/or it's not working - just send us an email at hello@fiammachocolate.com.au and we’ll get it sorted and confirm for you.
Note: if you need to update payment details, please don't email us credit card details - it's not secure. Let us know and we'll call you and enter them into our secure, encrypted system!