Change of strategy in choc campaign
The man behind a campaign to keep some Cadbury confectionery made in Dunedin is now eyeing up a locally owned chocolate maker.
Dunedin city councillor Jim O’Malley’s campaign to produce Cadbury’s iconic Kiwi brands – including Jaffas, Pineapple Lumps, Buzz Bars and Pinky Bars – ended after Dunedin Manufacturing Holding (DMH) withdrew its bid with global food giant Mondelez International.
DMH attracted $5 million in pre-pledges to keep chocolate and confectionery making in Dunedin, and now the company plans to crowdfund to buy and expand craft chocolate maker Ocho (Otago Chocolate Company).
O’Malley said Ocho was already producing a quality product and there was less risk.
He envisaged the products to be in the same space as Whittaker’s artisan bars, but ‘‘we are going to target exports early on in our development’’. That was likely to be Asia, particularly China.
For the local market DMH also wanted to produce a block chocolate, and he was already in talks with distributors products.
Ocho founder Liz Rowe said the company was currently unable to grow because of the small-scale equipment it was using.
‘‘A bigger operation will mean we can invest in some state-of-theart craft chocolate making machinery, and the increased production will open up potential opportunities in tourism and export, and also mean we can work more closely with our supplier communities in the Pacific,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s important to me, though, that we retain the emphasis on making premium quality craft chocolate because that’s been my interest since starting Ocho, and where I think the growth potential is.’’
DMH was now calling for expressions of interest from experienced company directors.
‘‘We have an ambitious timeline and we are looking for a board who can make a significant investment with their knowledge, energy and time over the next year,’’ O’Malley said.
A crowdfunding campaign was scheduled to begin on October 31, and if successful the board would appoint a chief executive. about the