Founded in Adelaide by Alfred E Haigh in 1915, Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate maker/retailer has a history of embracing change.

In the 1950s grandson John learned from Swiss masters Lindt and Sprungli and introduced European fine chocolate making to Australians. The current fourth generation Haigh family management preside over a business that represents barely 1% of Australia’s chocolate sales. Yet I would venture to say they are very profitable.

By continuing to innovate Haigh's continues to prosper as a challenger brand

Their award-winning Australian Collection was launched in 2003, with six native food centres including quandong, macadamia nut and honey, lemon myrtle and wattle seed. And as Australian’s have become more sophisticated in food tastes, Haigh’s have kept up with such adventurous chocolates as a South Australian truffle duet made with premium wines from the State’s wine regions.

Haigh’s environmental policies and sponsorships are just one indicator of how in touch this old business is with today’s consumer.

Last August at the Family Business Australia Conference, Joint Managing Director Alister Haigh told me they were ready for the next big change - online sales. The only sticking point is developing a delivery method that can guarantee the integrity of their heat sensitive product.