Armed robbery sparks ‘priceless’ idea

A mum-of-three, who was held up with a gun, turned the terrifying experience into a sweet business that is booming.

After Fiona Harrison was caught up in an armed robbery where a gun was held to her head, she developed post traumatic stress disorder. But she never expected the distressing experience would also lead her to set up a business focused on chocolate and reconciliation.

The mum-of-three was working as a bank manager more than 30 years ago and had been sent to look after an unfamiliar branch in inner Sydney.

It was an old branch that had a storeroom with a window and padlock on it, which Ms Harrison said “deserved to be in a museum”.

“The robbers had been casing the lock and had sawn open the lock and left it closed for two weeks to see if anyone noticed. They then climbed up there, got into the room and sat down waiting for the branch to close,” she told news.com.au.

“I was helping a teller to balance up and I heard this cacophony and looked to my left and a man had a handgun in my face and another guy had a sawn-off shot gun in my chest.”

She said they “made me go around with the gun to my head opening safes”.

“So many times I thought they are going to do something to me as I just didn’t know,” she said.

“It stuffed me up for a number of years, but I wouldn’t be where I am today without it. I wouldn’t have been able to achieve what I have done and where I feel I can be a changemaker and make a difference.”

Fiona said her purpose was to share culture through storytelling with chocolate, educating on the traditional use of the botanicals by our First Nations People, to deepen respect for our wisdom and culture.

The 59-year-old not only suffered from PTSD but also developed a panic disorder, so drew on her natural therapies background.

She said one day, during a panic attack, she used a product from Australian brand Jurlique, which contained lavender and helped her feel like she could “breathe again”.

“I then put it in the shower and then in the bath and I was able to get myself and my family ready for the day and I never had another panic attack again,” she said. “Can you imagine how curious I was that a plant could have such a powerful benefit?”

The experience sent Fiona on a journey to share the power of botanic essences. Initially she tried aromatic cooking but it wasn’t until she took a chocolate-making course for a friend's birthday that the idea “dropped into her head like a clanger”.

She decided to launch Chocolate on Purpose in 2011, a business offering a fusion of the finest Belgian chocolate and the best of Australian native botanicals aka “bush food”, but since the pandemic hit it has really taken off.

Ms Harrison, a proud Wiradjuri woman from the Bila Galari (Lachlan River) region, said her ancestors have been using bush food for tens of thousands of years.

There is range of chocolates which sell for $12.10

Ms Harrison created a range of artisan and handcrafted chocolate combinations using Australian native botanicals such as Garal (Wattleseed), Boombera (Macadamia Nut), Gulalung (Finger Limes) and Wyrrung (Wild Rosella) combined with milk, dark and white and even ruby chocolate.

“We have a milk chocolate with quandong, which is scientifically proven to reduce blood sugar levels,” she said.

“The irony is that we have an Indigenous group who ate this for 10,000 years and now diabetes is endemic in the community and there is the close the gap issue. It’s a mainstream way to share all of this as most people love chocolate.

“The premise is through sharing the traditional use of botanicals from the Indigenous culture I can play a small part in reconciliation as personally I don’t feel it can happen without understanding, awareness and acceptance.”

She has even created speciality products like clapsticks for NAIDOC week to prompt conversations about reconciliation.

A bag of Chocolate on Purpose sells for $12.10, with Fiona initially launching the business at farmer’s markets, which she said was amazing to see people’s “priceless” expressions when they first tasted the products.

The handcrafted chocolate combinations using Australian native botanicals such as Garal (Wattleseed), Boombera (Macadamia Nut), Gulalung (Finger Limes), Wyrrung (Wild Rosella) and many others. Picture: Supplied

However, the bushfires and pandemic closed down this avenue for her NSW business, but a move to ecommerce has seen it boom.

Since launching online, revenue has increased by 109 per cent and corporate orders have been huge with her biggest order to date with 3500 products.

Last year during lockdown, Ms Harrison also decided to dedicate herself full time to the business.

Based in Millthorpe, a town located between Orange and Blayney in NSW, she is working on launching an Indigenous tasting experience aimed at the tourist market and expanding her operations.

There’s new products in the pipeline too including native bee honeycomb and nuts like macadamias covered in chocolate

Ms Harrison is one of the 5000 women Australian women not-for-profit, Global Sisters, has invested in as part of its aim to help females who are facing unemployment or underemployment, as well as other social and economic hardships.

Through Global Sisters, $2.6 million in pro bono support has been provided to emerging businesses from large established companies like Ebay, AfterPay, Minter Ellison and Unilever. The team has ambitious targets to reach 40,000 women over the next five years and support the establishment of 17,000 new businesses.

The premier chocolate range is called ‘Bush Food Chocolate’, a fusion of the finest Belgian chocolate and the best of Australian native botanicals aka ‘Bush Food’. Picture: Supplied

It has called on the federal government to invest $10 million into their program to help female led businesses

Global Sisters founder and CEO Mandy Richards said there’s no doubt a “pink recession” has occurred since the pandemic started, with economic inequality for women being exacerbated by the impacts of snap lockdowns and Covid-19 related restrictions on businesses and employment.

“Global Sisters is therefore proposing a payment by outcomes structure, where the Government can invest in women’s income generation or self employment. We’ve proposed that $10 million is invested over three years to see 10,000 women receiving income from new female led businesses,” she said.

“That means more women creating their own jobs, more jobs for others, economic growth and fewer women in need of government welfare.”

Originally published as Armed robbery sparks ‘priceless’ idea