Students, bakers and chocolate makers

It’s chocolate, but not as you know it. The vegan-friendly treat, aptly named ‘‘Naturally Delish’’, switches up some key ingredients - there’s vanilla extract in place of milk as well as coconut sugar and coconut oil.

A team of high school students concocted the recipe that contains no dairy or egg products. It also has a low-level of gluten.

What started as a compulsory school experience, taking part in the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES), has turned into a passion for Rachael Wilson, Tara McGill and Yasmin Kingi.

‘Healthy’ is not a common connotation of chocolate, but the three students are hoping to bridge that gap.

‘‘There’s an opening in the market we can squeeze into and we thought, hey, why not?’’ Wilson said. ‘‘The big companies like Whittakers and Cadbury don’t do it, so why not give it a go?’’

‘‘And because everyone’s on the healthy train, we’ll get on that too,’’ Kingi said. ‘‘It’s the perfect opportunity.’’

Recently the team participated in an ‘‘E-Day’’, in which Hamilton businesspeople give ‘‘hard advice’’ on the product. They also took part in their own version of ’’Dragon’s Den’’, in which they had only minutes to pitch their idea to four judges.

‘‘It’s like speed-dating but speed-coaching,’’ Kingi said. ‘‘We got so much good information.’’

Each of the ten team members have their own roles. Kingi is the chief executive of Naturally Delish, Wilson is the communications director, while McGill is on the production team. They also have two classmates who manage the finances.

The Hamilton Girls’ High School students all take Business Studies, which introduced them to YES. They said their teacher Caleb McCullum, has been their biggest supporter.

‘‘We’re planning on perhaps making a small business out of it and maybe even become as big as Whittakers or Cadbury. That’s a dream,’’ Wilson said.

As keen bakers, they are also interested in making other products out of their chocolate, including brownies, and are hoping to master their white choc- olate recipe in the next few weeks.

Naturally Delish will be at the Hamilton Night Markets on September 3. People are welcome to stop by and have a taste.