Our story

Trilby's started with wanting to know how things are made.

I went from a career in wine, to making chocolate at home for fun, to building a chocolate business of my own. Here's how it happened.

  1. Chapter 1

    A career in wine

    Before chocolate, there was wine. Years in the wine industry taught me about provenance, sensory analysis and what it takes to make something distinctive. It also taught me that where something comes from matters, and that's just as true of cacao as it is of grapes.

    Max beside a bin of freshly picked red grapes in a vineyard
  2. Chapter 2

    Chocolate at home

    I stumbled across bean-to-bar chocolate and couldn't stop thinking about it. I started making it at home for fun: sourcing cacao beans, roasting, grinding and trying different origins. Before long, the hobby had become an obsession.

    Max's daughter Trilby laughing as she stirs a big bowl of chocolate at home
  3. Chapter 3

    Taking the leap

    Eventually I left wine to build a chocolate factory of my own. I named it Trilby's after my daughter, Delilah "Trilby" Collett, and set out to make chocolate from the bean up, here in South Australia.

    Chocolate maker in an apron working at a bench in the Trilby's chocolate kitchen
  4. Chapter 4

    Trilby's today

    Today I make a growing range of chocolate from the bean up, alongside seasonal flavours and small-batch experiments. You can buy it here, or join First Crack, my chocolate club, and get a box delivered to your door.

    First Crack chocolate subscription, a selection of Trilby's chocolate bars in colourful patterned wrappers