| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Confectionery |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Headquarters | Adelaide, Australia |
| Number of locations | 12 |
| Area served | Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney |
| Products | Chocolates |
| Website | http://www.haighschocolates.com.au/ |
Haigh's Chocolates is a company selling high quality chocolate 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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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, although now it directly faces a competitor, Darrell Lea Chocolates. 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.[1]
Haigh's Chocolates have six stores in South Australia, with three in the Adelaide CBD including the Beehive Corner store.
Melbourne currently has six Haigh's stores, four in the CBD, including a flagship store in the Block Arcade.
A Haigh's store is now also open in Sydney.
Rabbits in Australia are seen as pests; to better appease the Australian public, Haigh's began offering a chocolate Easter Bilby in 1993 as an alternative to the popular Easter Bunny.[2]