Egg-onomics: SA chocolate icon hops to Easter amid national growth
The company synonymous with South Australian chocolate expects to make and sell more than 80,000 chocolate Easter bilbies this year. InDaily speaks to Adelaide’s Willy Wonka about the company’s push into the country’s most beautiful retail spots. Watch how the eggs are made.
As South Australian chocolatier Haigh’s progresses critical plans to expand interstate into some of the best retail real estate there is, the CEO in Adelaide is busy coordinating the manufacturing of approximately 100 tonnes of Easter chocolate for 2026.
It’s an enviable job – one Peter Millard’s three sons certainly appreciate – and is propped up by the business’s swish new chocolate factory in Salisbury South, which opened late last year.
This year, Haigh’s will make and sell approximately 6,000,000 chocolate Easter Eggs of all sizes, more than 80,000 Hot Cross Bun Easter Chocolates and more than 80,000 chocolate Easter Bilbies.
Many of the products are handmade, while some of the foil covering the delectable eggs is imported from Italy. In all, it’s a grand affair; one South Australians have devoured for decades. Now, it’s a national story.
Haigh’s is growing rapidly, hoping to lay claim to the title of the nation’s premier luxury chocolate maker. It does this, uniquely, by using a vertically integrated model: Haigh’s controls the manufacture, distribution and sale of its own product, cutting out the supermarkets and keeping revenue flowing through its very own stores.
By the end of the year, the company anticipates it will be operating 26 stores. It currently has a 22-store footprint across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra and employs more than 900 people nationally.
Brisbane is the latest city to welcome Haigh’s, the company announcing last week its “highly anticipated retail debut” in the Queensland capital, where it will open three stores this year.
The stores build on Haigh’s ability to pinpoint the best-of-the-best when it comes to bricks-and-mortar shopfronts. Adelaide’s Beehive Corner store is one such example, but interstate, the business boasts a presence in the likes of Sydney’s gorgeous heritage-listed Queen Victoria Building and in Melbourne’s tucked-away CBD laneways.
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“It’s critically important to get the location right,” CEO Peter Millard told InDaily.
“In retail, it’s about being in a place where people are, it’s about being in a place consistent with your brand.
“We might invest a lot of money in our stores, we want them to look and feel beautiful, to make sure that investment can maximise its return.”
Haigh’s is “incredibly picky”, Millard said, noting “we love those heritage locations”.
But it’s also about meeting the customer where they’re at. For example, Millard said the brand’s new South Australian store at Burnside Village was “a hugely successful recent investment that’s really paying off”.
This is despite having a visitor centre and shop five minutes away on Greenhill Road.
“For a long time we doubted ourselves about whether the two could complement each other, and time has proven that they might be close in proximity but they are serving a different bunch of customers,” said Millard, the company’s first CEO in its history outside of the family.
Millard knows Haigh’s inside out. He’s been with the business for close to two decades, but only recently took on the top job of CEO in August last year. Prior to that he was chief operating officer for four years.
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He replaced owner Alister Haigh, who stepped down in 2025 after 30 years at the helm.
So Millard has seen a few Easters come and go. Millard said Easter was about 20 per cent of Haigh’s overall sales for the year, with Easter products making up about 10 per cent of the business’ total sales.
Work on the Easter season starts well in advance for the chocolatier, 18 months ahead of each April. At that time, the team starts preparing designs: “We need to have a clear picture of what colours we’re going to pick, what design patterns on the foil that need to get ordered and shipped from Italy”.
This year, the Easter range features intricate white lace patterns against striking bright colours of blue, purple and orange. A new limited-edition Milk Cookie Crunch Egg is the centrepiece of the range for 2026.
“Each year tends to be the biggest we’ve ever done,” he said.
“We’ve seen a new store in Sydney come online this year. Each year is a unique challenge. This year is going to be five to 10 per cent bigger than last year.
“We’re basically continuously recruiting from about September onwards to make sure we’ve got enough employees.”
This pressure is relieved by the recent opening of a $120 million chocolate factory and fulfilment facility at Salisbury South.
The 18,000sqm facility – a milestone for the 110-year-old business – increases Haigh’s production capacity from 1100 tonnes to 2000 tonnes of chocolate per year, enabling it to service its growing online and retail points of sales.
The facility has 1.7km of chocolate delivery pipes, more than 1000 solar panels, and can accommodate up to 400 employees.
“We’re so proud of what we’ve done out there,” Millard said.
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