Dunedin city councillor Jim O’Malley, who fronted a campaign to keep some of the Cadbury confectionery made in Dunedin, is now planning on purchasing locally owned chocolate maker, Ocho (Otago Chocolate Company).
While New Zealand based O’Malley’s campaign to make some of Cadbury’s iconic Kiwi brands – including Buzz Bars, Pineapple Lumps, Pinky Bars and Jaffas – met an end after Dunedin Manufacturing Holding (DMH) pulled out of their bid along with global food behemoth Mondelez, not all was lost.
Their campaign generated a lot of attention and DMH ended up attracting $5m in pre-pledges in order to try and keep the chocolate and confectionery making in Dunedin, but now the company has plans to try and crowdfund in order to buy – and eventually expand – craft chocolate maker Ocho, who are located in Dunedin.
O’Malley is very impressed with how Ocho have gone about their business, and said that the company are already producing a quality product with the lowest cocoa rating being 60%.
