In astoundingly good news for everyone who has ever tried wrapping their gobs around a plank of rocky road, storied Aussie confectioner Darrell Lea is set to drastically ramp up its production, a cool seven years after the company nearly dropped off the face of the Earth.
The Herald Sun reports Darrell Lea has acquired the Heritage Fine Chocolates factory in Melbourne, adding to the firm’s sweet-producing capabilities in Sydney.
The takeover has added the former Heritage workers to Darrell Lea’s ranks, but marketing director Tim Stanford said there may still be room for another 50 employees as the brand explores creating a “centre of excellence for chocolate”.
While the brand is not expected to fling the doors of that centre open to humble civilians – not yet, at least – the entire premise suggests an optimism not seen in the brand for some time.
Quadrant Private Equity scooped Darrell Lea up from its previous owners for about $200 million earlier this year. They almost immediately said they intended to not just return the brand to its former glory, but to offer Darrell Lea goodies on a truly global scale.
It’s yet to be seen if they can pull it off, but the increased production capacity and the centre seem like fairly a statement of intent from the brand.
That said, don’t expect to see Darrell Lea storefronts again any time soon. The shops, which all closed their doors in 2012, are set to remain a sweet figment of your nostalgia.
The liquorice legends seem pretty content to just ramp up factory production and sell on through supermarkets and the like, which should work out just fine for the sugar-deprived masses.
