Industry Confectionery Headquarters Adelaide, Australia Founded 1915 | Products Chocolates Number of locations 14 Type of business Private | |
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Area served Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney Website www.haighschocolates.com.au | ||
Welcome to haigh s chocolates
Haigh's Chocolates is an Australian confectionery industry company selling high quality chocolate and related products to customers in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. The company is based in Adelaide, South Australia, where it was founded in 1915 by Alfred E. Haigh. Haigh's conducts free tours of its factory on Greenhill Road.
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Haigh s chocolates working in manufacturing
History
Alfred E. Haigh was born in 1877 in Adelaide, South Australia. His first shop, on the "Beehive Corner" of Rundle Mall and King William Street, is still in operation. The décor of the shop remains the same as when it first opened. John Haigh (Alfred's grandson) wanted to expand the chocolate making aspects of the business, and went to learn about chocolate manufacturing with Lindt & Sprüngli in Switzerland to bring new techniques back to Australia.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Haigh's chocolates were sold in cinemas by "Tray Girls" and "Tray Boys". When cinema attendance fell, Haigh ventured to Melbourne to expand his already popular business.
Haigh's stores
Haigh's Chocolates have six stores in South Australia, with three in the Adelaide city centre, including the Beehive Corner store.
Melbourne currently has six Haigh's stores, four in the CBD, including a flagship store in the Block Arcade.
There are three Haigh's stores in Sydney, the newest being in Chatswood Chase.
Easter Bilby
Rabbits in Australia, initially introduced to the continent by European settlers in the 1700s, have become an unwanted pest since the late 1800s, causing widespread environmental and economic damage, and expensive control measures like the "Rabbit-proof fence". In a clever piece of marketing, since Easter 1993, Haigh's have been offering (with some success) a chocolate "Easter Bilby" as an alternative to the Easter Bunny.