Chocolate venture hits $1.8m target

A venture to buy a Dunedin-based chocolate factory has reached its initial target.

A PledgeMe campaign to buy the Dunedin-based Ocho chocolate factory reached $1.87 million yesterday, nearly 29 hours after it launched.

PledgeMe founder Anna Guenther confirmed it was the most pledged-to campaign on PledgeMe (in terms of individual pledgers) and the quickest campaign to $1.5m.

Dr Jim O’Malley, a former pharmaceutical executive and current Dunedin councillor, said earlier that the amounts pledged were going up about $500 a minute.

The venture needed the $1.8m target to proceed, but the aim was to raise $2m, which is the maximum that can be raised through crowd funding in any year.

About 3200 investors have pledged to invest in the company, which encouraged as many $100 investors as possible.

O’Malley said the company would continue its small-batch production – currently selling about 90kg a week, including to people lining up outside of the doors of the Vogel St premises.

The company hoped to increase production by August.

He confirmed the company had been in talks with Foodstuffs about stocking future product.

The new company was not so different to a co-operative. Instead of one or a few large cornerstone shareholders, Ocho would be owned by a broad base of small investors across the country, he said.

Each shareholder could buy Ocho chocolate at a special shareholder price.

Ocho founder Liz Rowe would stay as general manager.