Haighs has opened the doors on a $15 million factory revamp in Adelaide’s inner west today.

Haighs chief executive Alister Haigh said the facility is a state of the art chocolate processing plant and will produce up to 20,000 tonnes of the sweet stuff each year compared to the 7000 tonnes currently being pumped out.

“The factory is now the largest cocoa bean processing plant in Australia and the most modern of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere,” Haigh said.

“We purchased equipment from Europe that isn’t available here in Australia. Engineers from abroad spent many months on site assembling it. We then underwent an extensive testing process to ensure we are replicating the exact chocolate products made with our old equipment.”

Haighs said the capacity will extend its Australian capabilities while also enabling it to look at overseas opportunities.

“We have seen increased demand across the eastern seaboard as well as online meaning continued growth for the Haigh’s business. We are also looking at expanding to overseas markets due to interest abroad,” Haigh said.

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