Dunedin still choc capital
There’s sweet news for the largest crowdfunding campaign in New Zealand’s history.
It has been a year since it took less than 48 hours for Ocho chocolate to raise $2 million from 3500 investors through crowd-funding platform PledgeMe.
The company has since refurbished an old factory and its Italian-sourced equipment was moved to the site yesterday.
General manager Liz Rowe said at its current premises the boutique chocolate maker produced 90kg of chocolate a week, but the new machinery will eventually produce 200kg a day.
The crowd-funding campaign came after food giant Mondelez confirmed it was closing Dunedin’s Cadbury factory, with the loss of 350 jobs.
Mondelez also closed its Cadbury World tourist attraction after it was revealed it would be next to the site of the redeveloped Dunedin Hospital.
‘‘We couldn’t have done any of this without the crowd-funding,’’ Rowe said.
Investors could hopefully expect a dividend, and a 20 per cent discount on the chocolate, she said.
Those shareholders across the country wanted the company to grow, and employ more people.
Jim O’Malley, who started the push to buy some of Cadbury’s chocolate making equipment before setting his sights on Ocho, said this phase marked a ‘‘job well done’’.
Dunedin had a strong history of chocolate making with Hudson, Cadbury and now Ocho. ‘‘Dunedin is the home of chocolate in New Zealand . . . and we are continuing that tradition,’’ Rowe said.
The company imported beans from Papa New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Fiji, which she had visited.
‘‘We want to get the beans from as close a source as possible.’’
Rowe said the company did not want to compete with big chocolate companies, as its brand was as a ‘‘craft chocolate maker and will stay that way’’.
Production will increase over the next few weeks to meet Christmas demand.
Factory tours will start in February or March.