Prime Minister Scott Morrison gave his fair trade hot chocolate the thumbs up when he visited Robyn Rowe Chocolate just over the northern border of the ACT, near Murrumbateman, this week.
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Robyn Rowe, who has been operating her eponymous business on the family property, off the Barton Highway, on Nanima Road since 2006, was asked if it was okay for the prime minister and an entourage including Eden-Monaro Liberal candidate Dr Fiona Kotvojs to stop by and sample the wares and talk about how she was surviving during COVID-19.
"When they told me it was going to be the prime minister, I though, 'Oh my glory'.
"It was fairly quick but a wonderful opportunity for me. And if the other side might want to do the same, I'll be open for them too," she said, confirming her chocolates were bipartisan.
And the PM enjoyed his hot chocolate, in which liquid chocolate is poured into aerated milk.
"So he had to stir it himself, which he did and said it was beautiful," Robyn said. "He's quite a personable man, easy to talk to."
The retail shop opened on the property in 2012. The range of home-made preservative chocolates has grown from 13 to 30 varieties, from sweet chilli bites to raspberry caramel.
The business has kept Robyn going after the death of her daughter Sophie from breast cancer in 2009 and her husband Denis from renal cancer in 2016.
"In a way, it's been a bit of a saviour for me," Robyn, 78, said, of the business.
"The chocolates gave me the focus to get up and keep going."
Robyn said she had been able to stay open during the coronavirus shutdowns by reducing operating hours and continuing takeaway.
"That's sort of been the saviour, the takeaway," she said.
The chocolates have won awards at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
They are so fresh that they are stocked only on-site.
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"We don't use artificial preservatives, that's why they're not in the shops in Canberra. People always ask us, 'Where can we get them?'. It's just that we use fresh everything."
Sophie, a graphic designer who created the business' logo, was always encouraging her mum to go to the next step with the business.
"Anytime I dither, I have this little voice in my head saying, 'Mum, just do it'," Robyn said.
Perfect for a day trip, Robyn Rowe Chocolates will be open this long weekend and next, from 10am to 4pm. But if you are travelling from the ACT, bewared that travel restrictions remain in place until Monday, June 1.
Megan Doherty
I like telling local stories and celebrating Canberra. Email: megan.doherty@canberratimes.com.au
I like telling local stories and celebrating Canberra. Email: megan.doherty@canberratimes.com.au
