Mörk Chocolate

“We still think of ourselves as a North Melbourne business, even though we are now a global brand. North Melbourne is our home - and it will always be where everything started for Mörk Chocolate.”

In the heart of North Melbourne, there’s a unique space for chocolate enthusiasts and those seeking a sweet escape from the ordinary.

Kiril Shaginov and his wife Josefin are the visionaries and chocolate makers behind Mörk Chocolate, a chocolate brand specialising in dark drinking chocolate (“Mörk” in Swedish means dark).

Kiril's journey began far from the chocolatier's kitchen, in the hills of Adelaide, where a casual job washing dishes at McGill Estate ignited an unexpected love affair — with coffee.

"I loved experimenting with a coffee machine to make coffee for the kitchen," Kiril reminisces.
Life's twists led him to Sweden, where he met Josefin. "We met through coffee because, at the time, Josefin worked as a coffee roaster on the side of chocolatiering."

Returning back to Melbourne together, Josefin’s love for chocolate became the foundation of Mörk Chocolate.

"She has always loved chocolate. She experimented with chocolate making as a small child, long before she knew anything about it." Kiril chuckles. "She would hide foil wrappers under the carpet from little chocolate Santas devoured off the Christmas tree. It was no surprise to her family when chocolate became her career."
Together, the duo wanted to give chocolate its much-deserved spotlight in a coffee-obsessed world. “Back in 2012, coffee was a big thing. Specialty coffee was just emerging… drinking chocolate was a bit of an afterthought,” Kiril reflects. “We wanted to craft a chocolate experience that aligned with the complexity and care of specialty coffee.”

After much experimentation, they landed on their new Australian style dark drinking chocolate. A dark chocolate where the quality of the cacao shines through, simply prepared to suit baristas in a busy cafe environment.

They started selling Mörk Chocolate drinking chocolate wholesale to cafés - one of their first customers was Auction Rooms in North Melbourne - before opening their Brew House and retail store in Errol Street, in 2015.

At the store customers can sample a seasonal menu of chocolate drinks as well sweet delights from their wholesale cake and pastry brand Söt by Mörk.

“Our signature menu item at the Brew House is the Campfire Hot Chocolate. It was inspired by Josefin’s childhood memories of sipping chocolate by the fire in winter. It’s a complete sensory experience. The glass comes with trapped woodfire smoke and when you reverse the glass, the scent fills the air, transporting you into your own personal memory bank. You pour 70% dark hot chocolate over the smoke and add a sprinkle of charcoal salt to symbolise the embers of the fire, to intensify the drink. Finally, complete it with our house-made toasted marshmallow.” Check out Instagram to witness this showstopper in action!

Mörk Chocolate is all about being kind to our planet too. Their commitment to sustainability shines through collaborations with local cocktail brand LORO, where discarded cacao husks and 100% chocolate are transformed into exquisite drops such as their Chocolate Negroni or Dark Chocolate Martini, as well as a decadent whisky liqueur with Gospel Whisky.

As well as their chocolate factory in North Melbourne and the Mörk Chocolate Brew House, the business has a UK team and a Japanese team, supplying chocolate to cafés over there. Opening Brew Houses in London and Tokyo are part of Kiril and Josefin’s grand plans for the future.

For the moment, North Melbourne is the only place to indulge in the full Mörk Chocolate experience - so next time you're strolling through the neighbourhood and catch a whiff of rich chocolate and freshly baked goodies, follow your nose to Errol Street.

Words by Joyce Watts & Photography by Anna Encio