13 October 2017

Chocoholics lick your lips because chocolate royalty is coming to Canberra

| Glynis Quinlan
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Popular roasted almond chocolates being made. All photos supplied by Haigh’s.

Chocoholics lick your lips – Australian chocolate royalty is coming to Canberra and free tastings, iconic treats and unique flavours are all on the menu.

In just a few short weeks, Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate maker, Haigh’s Chocolates, will open its first Canberra store in the new Monaro Mall shopping precinct on level one of the Canberra Centre.

Canberrans will be able to discover for themselves a chocolate retail experience that is one of the drawcards for visitors to Adelaide’s CBD and has delighted generations of loyal customers in that city.

On offer will be Haigh’s highly popular chocolate frogs, speckles and scorched almonds as well as more than 250 varieties of chocolate.

To get an idea of how popular the classic products are, consider the fact that Haigh’s makes nine million speckles, 2.6 million frogs and 19 million scorched almonds a year. Some customers visit the Adelaide store every day to buy one of the small frogs.
Haigh’s Chocolates Canberra Centre store is scheduled to open on November 2 this year, with the pre-Christmas opening aimed at ensuring they benefit from selling chocolate gift ideas for the festive season.
Visitors to the store will be able to sample the premium chocolates, with the store holding free tastings every day. A different product is offered for tasting each week but the staple milk and dark chocolate is always available for tasting.

Haigh’s Chocolates Chief Executive Alister Haigh said the style of the new Canberra store will be in keeping with Haigh’s signature store design and will feature superior materials including Jarrah, Tasmanian oak, marble and glass.

“The new store will allow us to meet demand for our chocolate in a high-end retail setting in Canberra,” Mr Haigh said.

Haigh’s Chocolates is a bean-to-bar chocolate maker, which means they manufacture the chocolate themselves from cocoa beans imported from cocoa growing regions around the world.

The fresh ingredients and artisan skills are used to create Haigh’s range of products that they sell exclusively through their retail stores. Haigh’s holds international UTZ certification for ethical and sustainable practices.

Haigh’s Chocolates was founded in Adelaide in 1915 by Alfred Haigh and today is run by fourth generation members of the family.

Pictured left to right – Simon, John and Alister Haigh.

The company’s annual turnover in the past six years has grown to more than $50 million with production of over 750 tonnes of chocolate last year.

Almond on a fork.

Haigh’s employs over 500 people and with the opening of its Canberra Centre store will operate a total of 16 stores – with six in Adelaide, six in Melbourne, three in Sydney and an online store.

Have you tried any of Haigh’s chocolates? If so, which are your favourites?

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This will be the best thing ever to happen in Canberra.

Great news, Haighs will do well in CBR I think. It will also give Coco Black a run. Perhaps, CB will do something about their totally worn out chairs etc.

It is very exciting! I’ve been bringing peppermint frogs back from Melbourne for at least 10 years; and things got marginally easier when they finally opened in Sydney. We love the frogs, almond block, scorched almonds, coconut and macadamia block, dark nougat bars, etc, etc, etc.

Holden Caulfield11:57 am 16 Oct 17

Awesome news!

A bit more on the history of Haigh’s, who actually started his first business outside of Adelaide:
https://www.mountgambier.sa.gov.au/Haighschocolates

For years and years in my workplace it has been compulsory for colleagues travelling to Adelaide to return with bags of Haigh’s – especially the bullets. This is great news!

Maryann Mussared12:21 pm 15 Oct 17

I ‘imported’ a small quantity across the border (for personal use only) from Melbourne recently. Our family favourite is dark chocolate covered orange slices. I love going into the shop in the beautiful old Block Arcade and selecting just a few that are popped into a paper bag.

It is noted that MaxBrenner at New Acton (another retailing high-end location) has closed.

I believe the Haighs one will flourish however – good to see they are coming to Canberra.

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