Hoadley's Chocolates facts for kids
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| Private (1913–72) | |
| Industry | Food |
| Fate | Acquired by Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery in 1972, merged to it |
| Founded | 1913 |
| Founder | Abel Hoadley |
| Defunct | 1972 |
| Headquarters |
Australia
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| Products | Chocolate bars |
| Brands | Polly Waffle Violet Crumble |
Hoadley's Chocolates was an Australian company that made candy and chocolates. It started in 1913 and was famous for its Polly Waffle and Violet Crumble chocolate bars. A bigger company called Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery bought Hoadley's in 1972. Later, in 1988, Nestlé bought Rowntree Mackintosh.
Contents
The Story of Hoadley's Chocolates
How Hoadley's Began
Hoadley's Chocolates started with a man named Abel Hoadley. He was from England and began a jam company in South Melbourne, Australia, in 1889. His company, A. Hoadley and Company, first made jams. Later, they also made preserved fruits, candied fruits, and sauces. They used fruit from Hoadley's own orchards.
To keep his business busy all year, not just when fruit was in season, Abel Hoadley started making other products. Around 1901, he bought a factory and began making cocoa and chocolate. In 1910, he sold the jam part of his business. He kept only the chocolate and candy making, calling it Hoadley & Sons Ltd.
Abel Hoadley wanted to focus only on chocolates. So, in 1913, he started a new company called Hoadley's Chocolates Ltd. He retired that same year. His four sons took over the business. Abel Hoadley passed away in 1918, but his sons kept the company going strong.
The first product from the new chocolate company was called Violet Milk Chocolates. It was named after Abel Hoadley's wife's favorite flower. Later that year, they launched the Violet Crumble. Abel Hoadley wanted to call it 'Crumble,' but he couldn't get the name trademarked. So, he added 'Violet' to honor his wife again.
Growing the Business
At first, Hoadley's products were mostly sold in Victoria, especially in Melbourne. By 1921, their products, like the Violet Crumble, were being sold in Western Australia. People could buy them in boxes or as single bars. In 1923, Hoadley's officially registered Violet Crumble as a trademark. Soon, advertisements for Violet Crumble appeared in newspapers all over Australia.
In the 1930s, the company faced tough times and was almost out of money. But Abel's son, Albert, helped turn things around with clever marketing. He created collectible cards that came with Hoadley's products. These cards featured popular Australian and international sports stars, which made sales go up.
Sales and profits kept growing in the 1940s. In 1947, Hoadley's launched the Polly Waffle. It quickly became their second most popular product, right after the Violet Crumble. Just like the Violet Crumble, the Polly Waffle usually came in a purple wrapper.
After World War II, Abel Hoadley's sons continued to run the company and introduced more new products. Later, around 1962, Albert's son Gordon became the managing director. He led the company until it was bought by Rowntree's in 1972.
New Owners Take Over
After facing money problems in the 1960s, Hoadley's Chocolates was bought by a British chocolate maker called Rowntree's in 1972. The company then became known as Rowntree Hoadley Ltd. The new owners stopped making some of the less popular Hoadley's products. They also added new candies, including some that weren't chocolate.
In 1988, a big Swiss company called Nestlé bought Rowntree Hoadley. The remaining Hoadley's products were then sold under the Rowntree Nestlé brand, and later just as Nestlé.
In 2018, Nestlé sold the rights to the Violet Crumble to an Australian candy company called Robern Menz in South Australia. In 2019, Menz also bought the rights to the Polly Waffle from Nestlé. Nestlé had stopped making the Polly Waffle in 2009. Robern Menz started making the Polly Waffle again in 2023.
Popular Products
Hoadley's made many different candies before Rowntree's bought the company. Here are some of them:
- 5 Star Bubble Gum: This bubble gum is no longer made.
- Arctic Mints: These were green and white mint candies with a chocolate center. They came in a cardboard can and are no longer made.
- Bertie Beetle: This chocolate was introduced in 1963 and is still made today in New Zealand.
- Clancy Bar: This bar had wafers with jam inside, covered in dark chocolate. It was named after a famous Australian poem. It was likely first made in the 1950s and is no longer made.
- Crumblettes: These were small, bite-sized pieces of Violet Crumble in a box. They are no longer made.
- Lady Beetle: This was a white chocolate version of Bertie Beetle, possibly with caramel. It was only available in special showbags and is no longer made.
- Luncheon: A wafer bar with caramel cream and peanuts, covered in milk chocolate. It is no longer made.
- MinTex Bar: This bar had two layers: peppermint fudge and caramel, dipped in milk chocolate.
- Polly Waffle: First made in 1947, it was stopped in 2009. Robern Menz started making it again in 2023.
- Tex-Bar: A two-layer bar with a caramel base and malt cream fudge top, covered in dark chocolate. It was called "the King of candy bars" and is no longer made.
- Violet Crumble: This famous candy was introduced in 1913 and is still made today.
- Violet Chocolate Assortment: This was a box of different flavored milk chocolates. It was Hoadley's first product and was likely stopped when Rowntree's bought the company.
- White Knight: This chocolate bar was first made around 1956 and was stopped in 2016.
Hoadley's also made other products that weren't candy, like cough mixture.
Marketing and Advertising
From the 1930s, Hoadley's used many creative ways to sell their products and reach more customers.
Special Chocolate Boxes
In the 1950s, Hoadley's started making fancy hard plastic chocolate boxes. These boxes had beautiful designs and came with their Violet Chocolate Assortment. The first boxes were pale purple with a wavy lid and a gold ribbon with violets. Later, they made boxes with rose designs and even an "Oriental" theme called 'Pagoda Chocolates.' Today, collectors look for these special boxes.
Collectible Cards
In the 1930s and 1940s, some Hoadley's products came with collectible cards. These card sets included:
- Cards about the Empire Games and Test Teams (cricket).
- Cards featuring players from the Victorian Football League.
- "Action" series cards of Victorian football.
- Cards about the Wild West.
These sets usually had between 50 and 100 cards. Today, collectors still search for these cards.
Radio Shows
In 1956, to promote their new Clancy Bar, Hoadley's Chocolates paid for the famous poem Clancy of the Overflow to be read on many radio stations across Australia. This happened over a few evenings in August. Many radio stations took part, including 2HD Newcastle, 2UW Sydney, 3UZ Melbourne, and 4BC Brisbane.
Showbags
Besides being sold in stores, Hoadley's products were also available in special bags called showbags at big annual Australian events like Brisbane's Ekka and Sydney's Royal Easter Show. These included:
- Bertie Beetle showbag: After the Bertie Beetle chocolate became popular, it got its own showbag in 1965. It usually had many Bertie Beetle chocolates and was often the cheapest showbag at the shows.
- Hoadley's Chocolate showbag: (later called the Violet Crumble showbag) This bag had a mix of Hoadley's products, like Polly Waffles, Violet Crumbles, and White Knights. When Bertie Beetle was first made in 1963, it appeared in this showbag.
- Lady Beetle showbag: After the Bertie Beetle showbag's success, a similar bag for the Lady Beetle (the white chocolate version) was launched in the 1970s. It wasn't as popular and was later stopped.
The items inside these showbags changed over the years.
Sponsorships
In 1966, Hoadley's Chocolates started sponsoring Hoadley's Battle of the Sounds. This was an annual music contest for new bands. Hoadley's continued to sponsor the contest until Rowntree's bought the company in 1972.
Factory Locations
Hoadley's Chocolates had factories and main offices in these cities:
- Melbourne: Hoadley's first chocolate factory was near Princes Bridge in South Melbourne. This factory was taken down around 1983 to build the Southbank area. Production moved to a Rowntree Hoadley factory in Campbellfield, a northern suburb, which was made bigger in 1977. This factory is still used by Nestlé today.
- Adelaide: After World War II, Hoadley's opened a large factory in Adelaide. They moved the production of Violet Crumble there from their South Melbourne factory. After Rowntree's bought the company in 1972, this factory was used a lot for Rowntree-Hoadley's many products, especially non-chocolate ones. In the 1980s, the factory started making less, and many workers lost their jobs. By the time Nestlé took over in 1988, the factory had closed.
- Sydney: A large factory and distribution center was built in Rosebery, South Sydney, after the war. After Rowntree's bought the company in 1972, production was moved to other factories, and eventually, only the distribution center remained. All operations stopped in the late 1970s. In 1981, the empty building was destroyed in a big fire. Another factory in Annandale, Sydney, opened around 1962. It is believed to have closed in the 1970s when operations were moved to Melbourne.
Later Challenges
Customer Complaints
After Nestlé bought Rowntree Hoadley Ltd in 1988, many of the original Hoadley's products were stopped. This made many Australians upset. People often started campaigns to ask Nestlé to bring back their favorite discontinued products.
In the early 2000s, Nestlé stopped selling the Bertie Beetle Showbag at annual shows. They said it cost too much to make because it was produced in New Zealand and shipped to Australia. People started a public campaign to bring back the showbag, which was a favorite. In 2007, Nestlé agreed, and the showbag was available again at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. In 2006, the price of the showbag, which was usually $2, went up to $3, causing more complaints. In 2007, the price went back to $2 and has stayed that way.
In mid-2009, Nestlé changed the recipe for the Polly Waffle and gave it new packaging. The new product looked the same but had a more sugary and crumbly wafer. Customers did not like it. After 62 years of production, Nestlé stopped making the Polly Waffle on November 23, 2009, because of low sales. In 2019, Nestlé made a deal with Robern Menz (the company that bought Violet Crumble in 2018) for them to start making Polly Waffle again at their factory in Adelaide. Production started again in 2023.
In 2010, Nestlé stopped making "fun size" packets of Violet Crumble, again saying it cost too much. Even though people asked for them to be brought back, Nestlé refused. In 2019, after Robern Menz bought the rights to Violet Crumble, the small bags reappeared in supermarkets. In 2020, Robern Menz also launched new flavors, like caramel.
In 2014, Nestlé made a deal that meant White Knight bars were only sold at major supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths, plus a few small candy shops. The White Knight bar used to be cheaper because it was smaller (25g). But the two supermarkets soon raised its price to match bigger chocolate bars (which usually weigh 50g-80g). Even with public complaints, Nestlé did not step in, and sales dropped. In 2016, Nestlé stopped making the White Knight, saying sales were too low.
Production Stops
When Hoadley's was at its busiest, it was the biggest customer in Victoria for sugar made by CSR, a sugar company. In 1988, Rowntree Hoadley temporarily stopped making products because they ran out of sugar. This happened after CSR workers went on strike. About 700 workers at Rowntree Hoadley had to stop working temporarily.
Rosebery Factory Fire
On October 3, 1981, a large fire broke out at the Rowntree-Hoadley factory in Rosebery, Sydney. The factory had already stopped operations, and demolition work had begun. The fire completely destroyed the building and was not put out until the next morning.
