Chokolait Competitors

Founded in 1852, the Ghirardelli Chocolate Company is a manufacturer and marketer of premium chocolate products. Ghirardelli is one of the few companies in America that controls the entire chocolate manufacturing process, from cocoa bean to finished product. This control over the manufacturing process combined with Ghirardelli's proprietary bean blend and unique methods of roasting and processing, ensures that you are rewarded with the highest quality and richest products. Ghirardelli has the richest heritage of any American chocolate company and continues to honor it to this day.

Godiva was founded in 1926 in Belgium by the Draps family who opened their first shop in the Grand Place in Brussels under its present name, in honour of the legend of Lady Godiva. The first shop outside Belgium was opened in Paris on the Rue Saint Honoré in 1958. Since those humble beginnings, Godiva has risen to become the official chocolatier to the Belgian Royal Court, gaining a reputation for mastery across the globe. Now, we invite each and every one of you to experience the legend for yourself.

It was 1st May 1915, when Alfred E Haigh opened the doors of the very first Haigh’s Chocolates store at number 34 King William Street, Adelaide. Alfred began adding his own flavour to the industry and in 1917 he started producing chocolate-covered fruit centres, which we still make today. In 1919 Alfred bought land behind the family home at Parkside South Australia where he built a small factory, now the Visitors Centre. In 1922, he moved shops to the Beehive Corner – still our Adelaide flagship store. Sadly, in 1933, Alfred passed away suddenly. His son Claude took over the running of the business. Alfred’s grandson, John Haigh, joined the business in 1946 with a vision to take Haigh’s chocolate making to new heights. He trained in Switzerland with Lindt and Sprungli and visited the US to look at production, shop styles and marketing. John revolutionised the way we manufactured our chocolate and in 1959 became Managing Director. Business continued to grow and John looked for other opportunities to expand. In 1965 Haigh’s opened the first store outside South Australia, in Collins Street Melbourne. We’re very proud to be the oldest family-owned chocolate manufacturing retailer in Australia. Today the company is run by fourth generation Haighs, Alister and Simon, who started in the 1970s and had to work their way up from the bottom. They’ve been joint Managing Directors since 1990.