Sweet like chocolate
- Words by Peppermint
Jade Anderson takes her chocolate obsession very seriously.
So seriously, in fact, that she’s turned it into a small but thriving ethical business. From her tiny Melbourne kitchen, Jade – a former watermelon farmer with a fierce sweet tooth – uses local produce and manual tempering techniques to create small batches of handmade chocolate goodness under the name Wawa Chocolatier. With their distinctive wrappers and delectable flavour combinations, Wawa creations are garnering plenty of lip-smacking love from customers across Australia – but while Jade’s enjoying the taste of success, she’s also committed to small-scale, sustainable production for a sweeter business model.
When Jade moved from the rugged, dramatic beauty of the Kimberley to the thrumming inner Melbourne suburb of Collingwood, the transition was more challenging than she’d anticipated. Born and raised in Western Australia, Jade moved north to the Kimberley in her early twenties to study horticulture. “I drove tractors and trucks, supervised teams of up to 40 people, took care of bookkeeping and payroll, and was the local beekeeper,” she remembers. “My everyday was diverse and challenging and full of responsibility.”
While the end of a relationship prompted her move interstate, “underlying it was a desire for complete immersion in something new and the need for a creative outlet,” Jade reveals. “I moved to Melbourne with the plan to party hard and learn how to make wedding cakes for 12 months, then move back to WA. But I made great friends, fell in love and ended up staying.”
Nonetheless, things didn’t quite go according to plan. In the city, Jade’s skills didn’t translate – “My options were whittled down to cafe work and basic office admin. I was lost.”
Underlying it was a desire for complete immersion in something new and the need for a creative outlet.
She was also enterprising. If Melbourne wasn’t going to offer Jade the right sorts of openings, she’d create them for herself by starting a business. “I took a job as an office manager for Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School, but I wanted to be in the kitchen more than the office!” she laughs. “I’ve always loved chocolate and am happiest when I’m working with my hands, so it was an exciting idea.” Never one to waste an opportunity, Jade was soon under the chocolate-making tutelage of the school’s founder, Kirsten Tibballs. “Her skills and creative talent are amazing, but she’s also a killer example of a woman in business,” Jade says. “Meeting her and being involved with Savour School was the beginning of Wawa.”
Once she’d kitted out her kitchen with a six-litre melting tank and a marble slab, Jade got down to business. “The longest part of the process was choosing the right chocolate and developing recipes,” she remembers. “Once I could explain to others what my ideas and concept for the business were, the rest was really organic. My close friends, Sarah Fitzpatrick and Gemma Wilson, came up with the designs for the packaging and took care of all the branding. It was a dream process – they’re so damn talented.” Jade was still working three to four days a week, which allowed her to develop Wawa in preparation for its debut at Coburg Night Markets in 2014. “That was the first time I wrapped the bars and sold them,” she says. “It was nerve-racking, but it felt great.”
Read more in Issue 30 of Peppermint – in stores now until the end of August.
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WORDS CARODY CULVER, PHOTOS FOR PEPPERMINT BY LINSEY RENDELL
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Look, I don’t want to make anyone panic but IT’S DECEMBER!!! If you’re planning to give homemade gifts, you’re going to have to act fast. …
Hang out with us on Instagram
🌻 The Paddington 🌻
This is a much-loved staple, created for Issue 50 in 2021. We love seeing the #PeppermintPaddingtonTop continually popping up in our feeds!
How stunning is our model Elon MelaninGoddessEfon – she told us it was one of the first times she had been asked to come to a shoot with her natural hair. 🌻
We worked with South African patternmaker Sarah Steenkamp of @FrenchNavyNow_ to create this wardrobe essential – the perfect puff-sleeve blouse. Raglan sleeves make it the ultimate beginner sew, plus the gorgeous back buttons let you add your own personal twist.
Pattern via the link in bio! 🪡
Photos: @KelleySheenan
Fabric: @Spoonflower
Model: MelaninGoddessEfon
“In the 1940’s, Norwegians made and wore red pointed hats with a tassel as a form of visual protest against Nazi occupation of their country. Within two years, the Nazis made these protest hats illegal and punishable by law to wear, make, or distribute. As purveyors of traditional craft, we felt it appropriate to revisit this design.”
Crafters have often been at the heart of many protest movements, often serving as a powerful means of political expression. @NeedleAndSkein, a yarn store in Minnesota, are helping to mobilise the craftivists of the world with a ‘Melt The Ice’ knitting pattern created by @Yarn_Cult (with a crochet pattern too), as a way of peaceful protest.
The proceeds from the $5 pattern will go to local immigrant aid organisations – or you can donate without buying the pattern.
Raise those needles, folks – art and craft can change the world. 🧶
Link in bio for the pattern.
Images: @Gather_Fiber @NeedleAndSkein @a2ina2 @KyraGiggles Sandi.204 @WhatTracyMakes AllieKnitsAway Auntabwi2
#MeltTheIce #Craftivism #Knitting #CraftForChange
TWO WEEKS TO GO! 🤩
"The most important shift is moving from volume-led buying to value-led curation – choosing fewer, better products with strong ethics, considered production and meaningful stories. Retailers have real influence here: what you buy signals what you stand for. At Life Instyle, this means using the event to discover and invest in small-scale, planet-considerate brands that align with your values and your customer’s conscience. Consumers don’t need more things; they need better things, and retailers play a key role in selecting, contextualising, and championing why those products matter."
Only two more weeks until @Life_Instyle – Australia`s leading boutique retail trade show. If you own a store, don`t miss this event! Connect with designers, source exquisite – and mindful – products, and see firsthand why this is Australia’s go-to trade show for creatives and retailers alike. And it`s free! ✨️
Life Instyle – Sydney/Eora Country
14-17 February 2026
ICC, Darling Harbour
Photos: @Samsette
#LifeInstyle #SustainableShopping #SustainableShop #RetailTradeEvent
Calling all sewists! 📞
Have you made the Peppermint Waratah Wrap Dress yet? Call *1800 I NEED THIS NOW to get making!
This gorgeous green number was modelled (and made) by the fabulous Lisa of @Tricky.Pockets 🙌🏼
If you need a nudge, @ePrintOnline are offering Peppermint sewists a huge 🌟 30% off ALL A0 printing 🌟 when you purchase the Special Release Waratah Wrap Dress pattern – how generous is that?!
Head to the link in bio now 📞
*Not a real number in case that wasn`t clear 😂
#PeppermintWaratahWrapDress #PeppermintPatterns #SewingPattern #WrapDress #WrapDressPattern
8 Things to Know About January 26 - from @ClothingTheGaps:
Before you celebrate, take the time to learn the truth. January 26 is not a day of unity it’s a Day of Mourning and Survival for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
It marks the beginning of invasion, dispossession, and ongoing colonial violence. It’s time for truth-telling, not whitewashed history.
Stand in solidarity. Learn. Reflect. Act.
✊🏽 Blog written by Yorta Yorta woman Taneshia Atkinson.
🔗 Link in bio of @ClothingTheGaps to read the full blog
#ChangeTheDate #InvasionDay #SurvivalDay #AlwaysWasAlwaysWillBe #ClothingTheGaps
As the world careens towards AI seeping into our feeds, finds and even friend-zones, it`s becoming increasingly hard to ignore.
We just wanted to say that here at Peppermint, we are choosing to not print or publish AI-generated art, photos, words, videos or content.
Merriam-Webster’s human editors chose `slop` as the 2025 Word of the Year – they define it as “digital content of low quality that is produced usually in quantity by means of artificial intelligence.” The problem is, as AI increases in quality, it`s becoming more and more difficult to ascertain what`s real and what`s not.
Let`s be clear here, AI absolutely has its place in science, in climate modelling, in medical breakthroughs, in many places... but not in replacing the work of artists, writers and creatives.
Can we guarantee that everything we publish is AI-free? Honestly, not really. We know we are not using it to create content, but we are also relying on the artists, makers and contributors we work with, as well as our advertisers, to supply imagery, artwork or words created by humans. AI features are also creeping into programs and apps too, making it difficult to navigate. But we will do our best to avoid it and make a stand for the artists and creatives who have had their work stolen and used to train AI machines, and those who are now losing work as they are replaced by this energy-sapping, environment-destroying magic wand.
Could using it help our productivity and bottom line? Sure. And as a small business in a difficult landscape, that`s a hard one to turn down. We know other publishers who use AI to write stories, create recipes, produce photo shoots... but this one is important to us.
`Touch grass` was also a Merriam-Webster Word of the Year. We`ll happily stick with that as a theme, thanks very much. 🌿
