Crafted in Australia, by Australians, for Australians Darrell Lea has been making Australia's finest chocolates, freshest liquorice and most delectable confectionery since 1927. Our most famous creation is soft-eating liquorice, invented in a small factory under the iconic arches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
What are the best Australian chocolate brands? Some of the best small-batch chocolate brands in Australia are the following: Haigh's, Metiisto, Monsieur Truffe, Ms Peacock, Kennedy and Wilson, Zokoko, and Bahen & Co.
To do so, we turned to Cocoa Horizons, whose award-winning cocoa sustainability programme creates real change. Since then, we have not looked back! We launched nationally a range of Darrell Lea chocolate blocks drawing inspiration from our popular treats including Rocklea Road, Liquorice, and Caramel Snows.
SUSTAINABLE AND ETHICAL Darrell Lea now pays a premium for 100% sustainably sourced cocoa, and we have adopted a recognised ethically sourced quality seal on all of our chocolate packaging to match our commitment.
Darrell Lea is the largest independently-owned confectionery player in Australia and was recently purchased for $200 million by Quadrant Private Equity. Nestlé confectionary general manager Martin Brown said that Nestlé regrets the agreement will mean up to 55 job losses at its factory in Wiri, New Zealand.
Crafted in Australia, by Australians, for Australians Darrell Lea has been making Australia's finest chocolates, freshest liquorice and most delectable confectionery since 1927. Our most famous creation is soft-eating liquorice, invented in a small factory under the iconic arches of the Sydney Harbour Bridge!
Daintree Estates
This family-owned and operated ethical Australian chocolate brand is perfect for all types of chocolate lovers – whether you're a casual chocolate indulger or a self-proclaimed chocoholic. Daintree Estates combines a range of exclusive flavours for their chocolate blocks.
Davies' Delicious Handcrafted Chocolates - Palm Oil Free Chocolates made with love in Sydney.
Primarily made in Germany, Belgium, and Austria, the chocolates at Aldi have clearly been made with quality in mind. They possess a rich texture and superior flavor, and they melt well, which a high-quality chocolate should do.
Chocoladefabriken Lindt & Sprüngli AG, doing business as Lindt, is a Swiss chocolatier and confectionery company founded in 1845 and known for its chocolate truffles and chocolate bars, among other sweets. It is based in Kilchberg, where its main factory and museum are located.
About cocoa
Australian distribution: cocoa is grown near Darwin in the NT, in North Queensland and in north-west Western Australia.
Cadbury, for example, began with the goal of selling a Dairy Milk Chocolate bar to every Chinese citizen. Toward that end, Cadbury decided to manufacture chocolate in China rather than assume the costs of exporting it from Australia.
While Cherry Ripe is the most popular chocolate bar among the total population, sweet-tooths aged under 25 are more likely to consume Boost bars (14%), while those aged 25-34 favour Mars Bar (11%).
While cocoa is grown in certain parts of Australia, the cocoa production in the country is still relatively in its infancy. A large portion of it is obtained through importation from trading partners like Singapore, Germany and Italy.
Farmers will no longer be selling on Fairtrade terms, or receiving the benefits summarised above. Nestlé are now sourcing sugar beet from Europe in place of sugar cane, so sugar farmers will no longer sell their sugar to go into KitKats, or receive the Fairtrade Premium.
Cocoa Life, Fairtrade and Cadbury
Fairtrade and Cocoa Life work together on innovative programs to ensure cocoa is sourced in a way that is right for farmers, communities and the land. As part of our ongoing partnership with Fairtrade, we published a Sustainable Livelihoods Report which you can read here.
Here are a few that are widely agreed upon as among the least ethical chocolate brands. Brands to avoid: Hershey, Godiva, Nestlé.
If you see the FAIRTRADE Mark with an arrow, it means to look on the back of the packaging to learn more about the ingredients and sourcing method. This Mark with an arrow is used on products with multiple ingredients, such as chocolate bars or cereal.
Peters Ice Cream has been an Australian tradition since 1907.
We started making Milo at a factory in Smithtown, Australia in 1934. It still makes Milo more than 80 years on, and Milo's success is such that it is now made in 24 other factories worldwide, and sold in more than 40 countries.
“For the chocolate that we manufacture in our Campbellfield factory and the products we make in our Melbourne and Sydney KitKat Chocolatory, we use milk powder that is sourced from New Zealand and Australia — across the east coast dairy country,” she said.