Vegan Chocolate Co

As the name suggests, Vegan Chocolate Co specialises in vegan chocolates, which owner Hamish Kelly makes by hand at the back of his small Dulwich Hill store. Kelly said it took him three years of testing to perfect his base chocolate recipe, which uses fairtrade couverture chocolate from Ecuador and four per cent refined sugar. The result is an incredibly low-sugared chocolate that tastes convincingly like the non-vegan equivalent.

Creations range from bars of plain chocolate through to playful takes on classics such as Wagon Wheels. Kelly’s “Wheelie” combines two generous rounded biscuits with raspberry jam and marshmallow sandwiched between them, before the whole thing is hand-dipped into rich cocoa butter.

Other temptations might include the chocolate Timmy (a honeycomb-filled layered biscuit like a Tim Tam); V Wafer (layers of wafer and chocolate approximating a Kit Kat); and shiny chocolate bars named Cherry, Coco and Sneaky – respectively Kelly’s vegan versions of a Cherry Ripe, Bounty and Snickers. There are also fruit-flavoured chocolate bars available in passionfruit or raspberry, made with fruit pulp.

As you enter the simple storefront, you’ll be met with a marbled bench, glass displays, and shelves filled with pre-packaged chocolate bars.