Our History
Hey, I’m Simon — co-founder and chocolate maker at Shirl & Moss.
Growing up on a remote farm in the beautiful Marlborough Sounds, my sister Aimee and I learnt early on that the best food begins with a deep respect for the land.
We spent most of our childhood outdoors — building huts in the bush, fishing off the jetty, helping around the farm, and growing up surrounded by homegrown food and long shared meals. Life was simple, hands-on, and closely connected to nature.
Food was always important in our family. People gathered around the table, ingredients were appreciated, and there was a quiet generosity in the way meals were prepared and shared. Looking back, many of those early experiences shaped the way we approach chocolate making today.
The name Shirl & Moss comes from our grandparents, Shirley and Maurice. They were warm, practical people who believed in hospitality, hard work, and looking after others. Those values continue to guide the way we run our business today.
Our Beginnings
We didn’t start with a big business plan.
What Aimee and I did know was that we wanted to build something together — something we could make from scratch, with care and intention. Then one day, we stumbled across an article about bean-to-bar chocolate, and something clicked. Before long, we were completely hooked.
What began as curiosity quickly became an obsession with learning everything we could about chocolate. We taught ourselves the bean-to-bar process from the ground up — roasting, winnowing, grinding, refining, and tempering — through experimentation, mistakes, and more than a few late nights.
The deeper we went, the more fascinated we became by cacao itself. We discovered that chocolate could express flavour in much the same way as wine or coffee, shaped by origin, climate, fermentation, and the people who grow it. Chocolate started to feel less like confectionery and more like an agricultural product — one with a story, a place, and a sense of season.
As we searched for cacao that reflected the values we cared about, we began working with Fazenda Camboa in Brazil — a certified organic farm committed to paying workers well above Fairtrade rates and investing back into its local community. From the beginning, we wanted to make chocolate that felt good in every sense.
After two years of learning, experimenting, and refining our craft, Shirl & Moss officially launched in 2019. We converted our garage in Wellington into a tiny chocolate factory and made chocolate around our day jobs. We started with just three bars and a lot of enthusiasm.
Over the years, we've explored new cacao origins, expanded our range, collaborated with incredible New Zealand producers such as Kokako Coffee and Allpress Olive Groves, and been fortunate enough to receive some very special awards along the way.
Where we are today
Today, Shirl & Moss is run by Simon and his partner Renee - still very much a small family-run business, now based in Auckland.
We still make chocolate in small batches, still spend far too much time thinking about flavour, and still believe that great chocolate begins with respect — for the ingredient, the grower, and the craft itself.
Renee plays a huge role in the day-to-day running of the business, helping manage operations and keeping everything moving behind the scenes.
Our daughter Eve is growing up around the factory — surrounded by sacks of cacao, trays of chocolate, and the familiar smells and sounds of production days. In many ways, it feels like the beginning of another chapter in the same story.
We work closely with cacao-growing communities throughout the Pacific, including family farms in the Solomon Islands. Building direct, transparent relationships with growers and supporting a more sustainable cacao industry remains one of the most rewarding parts of what we do.
We're also proud to be a founding partner of A Bar Apart, a shared emblem that celebrates New Zealand bean-to-bar chocolate makers who are transparent about where their cacao comes from and how their chocolate is made. It's an initiative that reflects many of the values we've believed in from the beginning, and we're honoured to stand alongside such a passionate community of makers.
Thank you for being part of our journey and for choosing chocolate made with care.
— Simon, Aimee & Renee
