When bush food meets chocolate – a taste sensation
Chocolate is the perfect antidote for Fiona Harrison’s Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, as it is commonly called.
An anxiety disorder and mental health condition that can develop in individuals who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.
For Fiona that event happened in 1990 when as a young bank employee she was held at gunpoint during a robbery.
A gun to the head, as robbers demanded cash, was the trigger that saw Fiona struggle for years, until she reached back into her Indigenous upbringing to re-discover native botanicals.
It was a journey that then developed into a business as she discovered how many of those botanicals could be matched with the cocoa bean – and of course chocolate.
“For many years my PTSD saw me have panic attacks, until I found a healing process through those botanicals,” Fiona told Firstnationsnews.com.au.
“I grew up in western NSW in Orange, but had disconnected from my Aboriginal roots. My mum was unwell and I was removed from the family home and grew up in Sydney.”
Finding her place
An only child, she worked in a number of industries, in finance and local government before 13 years ago, in 2012, she hit upon the idea of blending some of the finest cocoa beans with some Indigenous flavours.
“It was an evolutionary process for me, finding my place in the world,” she said.
“I’d raised my kids and what next?”
In times of stress many people turn to chocolate. It’s often the great soother of many pains and Fiona’s Chocolate On Purpose business was born.
Fiona knew that many Aboriginal women over 45 risk social isolation and she wanted to use the knowledge she had learnt about chocolate and botanicals to change that.
“I love chocolate On Purpose – such an amazing range of white, milk and dark chocolate, and traditional bush food” – Jess Sandford
The knowledge many Indigenous women have of native plants is often overlooked. So Fiona started to pool that information, blending three variations of beans, from Africa and Ecuador to create a smooth, mellow taste of what she calls ‘real’ chocolate.
Not mass produced and pretty tasteless, but a quality product using the best ingredients from around the world and from Australia.
Using fine Indigenous foods like the Emu Apple, a spiced apple with so many complex flavours which works well at Christmas time.
Or the Muntrie Berry – another ingredient popular during the festive season.
Rosella flowers and Mountain Pepper are two more little known additives that help make her chocolate one of the best artisanal brands there is.
Sydney Opera House
So popular now, that last month she was named a Champion in the Social Enterprise Business category at the 2025 Australian Women’s Small Business Champion Awards.
“That was a big surprise,” she admitted. “I told my friend at the awards that I had a snowball in hell’s chance. An amazing night.”
And then as we spoke about her achievement Fiona revealed her chocolates were to be displayed and on sale at the Sydney Opera House as part of their ‘Opera House Uncovered’ program that promotes local business.
“Australia’s native botanical industry is worth $300m-plus, yet First Nations participation represents less than two per cent. Even fewer are First Nations women, despite our role as matriarchal keepers of these ancient plant knowledge systems,” she said.
The use of native botanicals has been adopted by many in the health care industry. During the Covid lockdown the Royal College of Nursing contacted her for advice on creating care packs for isolated patients.
The Covid virus attacks the heart. Native plants, it was discovered, fight that and Fiona collaborated to find the right botanicals to assist in patient recovery.
The use of botanicals and chocolate is now her life.
Chocolate workshops
In the kitchen of her Moss Vale home, southwest of Sydney, she and two assistants create as many as seven flavours for her chocolate bars, which are sold online.
And corporates are her biggest customer, for staff events, gala dinners, NAIDOC events and as gifts.
Fiona even runs chocolate workshops for organisations, sharing indigenous knowledge, using Fair Trade ingredients, like Belgian chocolate infused with native botanicals.
What she terms a “holistic employee wellness journey featuring native botanical chocolates, stress recovery practices, and connection to Country. Perfect for mental health team experiences and personalised wellness programming.”
Her latest festive options includes a Merry Christmas bar of white chocolate with Davidson Plum and an Aussie bush food Christmas chocolate hamper that, as well as the white chocolate, has a milk variety with Muntrie Berry and a dark chocolate bar with finger lime – a classic take on dark and citrus.
Other botanicals she uses are Garal (Wattleseed), Boombera (Macadamia) and Warring (Wilde Rosella).
“Our chocolate is truly a taste of Australia,” Fiona said.
“I would like to educate the world about the superfood benefits of our Australian native botanicals and the wisdom of First Nations people in their use.
“Chocolate On Purpose is grounded in an ethical and sustainable ethos inherent in our business motto, ‘Yindyamangidyal Marramarra’, meaning ‘With Respect and Honour, We Create’.”
The creations are tantalisingly good, but will the business grow?
“I do not plan to be the next Cadbury’s,” she joked.
“And we use top quality grade chocolate, but I would like to automate some areas of the business that would allow us to employ a few more and grow.
“And mentor women to create their businesses and contribute to the black economy.”
For Fiona it is a labour of love, telling stories whilst creating a wonderful product.
Chocolate has certainly given Fiona Harrison a purpose in life.
