- Sande and Paul Jensen are selling their lakeside home to expand their chocolate business.
- They started Volcanic Chocolates in their basement, which has now become too small.
- The Jensens plan to move to a larger town to hire more staff and maintain their boutique approach.
Award-winning chocolatiers Sande and Paul Jensen are selling their lakeside home – because the “chocolate factory” they set up in their basement has become too small for their growing business.
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The Jensens started Volcanic Chocolates nine years ago in the downstairs area of their large family bach at 33 Turangitukua Terrace, in Whareroa.
They were both facing redundancy from the electricity company they worked for and needed a new career plan – fast.
Sande, who had trained as a chef before moving into HR, told OneRoof that she was in the kitchen, dabbling with chocolate, when she had the idea to turn her sweet tooth into a business.
The Jensens in their factory with their celebrated bonbons. Photo / Supplied
Their home looks out over the water. Photo / Supplied
“Like a lot of people, we like chocolate, but we were disappointed with what we could get in New Zealand. The flavours didn’t really come to life.”
The couple enrolled in two weeks of classes at Melbourne-based Savour Chocolate and Patisserie School run by Kirsten Tibballs, of Australian MasterChef fame, to learn everything they could.
After the first day of training, they knew they had made the right decision. “We thought, ‘hey, this is us’.”
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They returned to New Zealand and spent the next nine months experimenting with flavours, roping in neighbours to help them refine their recipes. “In Whareroa, where we live, all the residents just loved us because we were giving them chocolate to taste.”
Their five-bedroom, four-bathroom home included a self-contained flat on the ground floor, which they converted into a chocolate factory.
But the popularity of Volcanic Chocolates has been such that the Jensens need to sell their home to expand the business.
Sande said a move to one of the bigger towns in the central North Island would enable them to hire more staff.
The property started life as a holiday home. Photo / Supplied
While the two of them have been able to work in their basement factory quite comfortably, the space is too small for additional workers. “We’ve got six chocolate tanks downstairs, and that takes up quite a bit of room,” Sande said.
She added: “We don’t want to build and be like a big Cadbury’s. We want to continue to be boutique.”
The Jensens’ property was built initially as a holiday home, but in 2010, the couple relocated from Taumarunui to live there permanently after Sande’s parents died.
Of the 200-plus houses in the lakeside village, there are only about 18 permanent residences. “If it wasn’t because we were moving to expand our business, we would be quite happy to stay here. It’s peaceful, it’s quiet, we’ve got lovely neighbours. The lakefront is just below us, and it’s just stunning. We’ve got views right across the lake over towards Taupō and all the way around over to Motuoapa. It’s great, we love it, but it’s time to move on.”
Sande said the large home, which has three ensuite bedrooms upstairs, plus two bedrooms downstairs, would be perfect for several families. The lake was only a six-minute walk away, and there were large decks looking out to the bush and water.
- 33 Turangitukua Terrace, in Whareroa, is for sale by negotiation
