I left the Adelaide sunshine behind on 23 December, and New York welcomed me home with bleak grey skies and drizzle. Equally unpleasant is the fact that I'm now battling jet lag, finding myself wide awake at 4am and staring at the ceiling.
So I've decided that a perfectly acceptable way to pass these sleepless hours is to work my way through the stash of Australian chocolate that I brought back with me, and I'm not talking about supermarket chocolate either. The calorific wonder food that I'm referring to is an Adelaide family legacy - an icon, 99 years in the making. That's right, folks - I'm talking about
Haigh's Chocolates.
In 1915, Alfred Haigh opened a chocolate shop on King William Street, in the commercial centre of Adelaide. His operations were modest, but customers were faithful and business boomed. Two years later, Mr Haigh purchased his family home in Parkside, just outside of the City, and he set up a small chocolate factory there. By 1922, there was such a demand for Haigh's Chocolates that Alfred Haigh was forced to move to bigger retail premises at
Beehive Corner, and that heritage-listed gem remains the flagship store for Haigh's Chocolates today.
When Alfred Haigh passed away suddenly in 1933, his son took over the store and the notion of the Haigh's family dynasty was born. You can chart
the history of Haigh's by looking at Australia's own history - from the war years, to the early days of Australian cinema, through to the advent of television, and the subsequent expansion of Haigh's interstate. But even though you can now buy Haigh's products in Sydney and Melbourne, the chocolate is all still made in Adelaide and that's a great source of pride for the city.
Haigh's is still a family business too, with fourth generation descendants of Alfred Haigh steering the company to great success - locally, nationally, and even globally. In 2014, Haigh's was internationally-certified for
its commitment to sustainable cocoa farming and the company has also been a long-time fundraiser for
the protection of Australia's native species, including the bilby. All of this is well and good but let's face it, millions of us eat Haigh's Chocolates simply because they taste amazing - plain and simple.
On my recent trip home I actually got to see how the Haigh's magic was made, by doing
a free guided tour at the Visitor Centre in the converted old family home at Parkside. On the 20-minute tour, our guide Tara-Jane talked us through the breadth of the company's operations, and we got to see the chocolatiers in action. Tara-Jane spoke so fondly about her colleagues and the family atmosphere at Haigh's, it's little wonder you have to wait until someone retires before a job vacancy gets advertised. Why would you leave, when you can eat as much chocolate as you want all day!?
For me though, the best thing about the Visitor Centre is that there is also a retail store attached and you can load up your shopping basket with items from
the extensive range of Haigh's merchandise, including chocolate frogs, truffles, aprichocs, drinking chocolate, and more. I'm not even going to list my favourites because we'd be here all day.
Haigh's turns 100 years old next year and I can only imagine the big celebrations they have planned. I would be delighted if they would agree to export their chocolates, at least to the United States. That way I could keep a steady supply of peppermint chocolate frogs in my fridge - perfect for addressing 4am jet lag, or when that everyday chocolate craving strikes.
