This exuberant building was constructed in 1863-64 for
Ashdown & Co, wholesale and furnishing ironmongers. It later became the Royal Exchange Hotel in the 1930s
and most recently the chocolate shop. It is the only survivor of a row of
similar buildings recently demolished.
Darrell Lea Chocolates was established in 1928 and has
grown steadily since. It is privately owned by the Lea family, some of who
still work in the business. The company has grown over the years to be the
largest privately owned confectionery manufacturer in Australia with
around 1,000 employees at peak times.
Darrell Lea operates around 75 of its own outlets and
has approximately 475 other outlets run by independent operators under a
license agreement.
Darrell Lea manufactures almost all of its own products
and uses some 300 raw materials and 2,500 items of packaging materials
which are, wherever possible, souced from Australian manufacturers and
suppliers.
The company embraces best practise wherever possible
in order to produce high quality products. Our manufacturing facility is
located at Kogarah , NSW which is to the south east of Sydney and located
near the Sydney International airport.
Darrell Lea Chocolates
began with a young buck by the name of Harry Lea who learnt the
art of confectionery making in Perth, Western Australia. Young
Harry's first creation was Bulgarian Rock that was sold in his
first shop - a simple street pushcart !! Harry eventually
moved to Sydney and established a fruit and vegetable shop in
Manly's Corso in about 1926. As the Great Depression approached
and business dwindled, winter was tough for the fruit and
vegetable business, so Harry and his family started to cook
Bulgarian Rock at the back of the fruit shop. It was an
instant hit! Peanut Brittle was devised and soon the fruit and
vegetables disappeared so more space could be devoted to Harry's
sweet delights.
In 1927 the first dedicated chocolate and confectionery
shop was opened in Sydney's Haymarket - a milk bar/confectionery
shop at the front and a kitchen out the back.
The Depression of the 1930's saw a shirt
shop become vacant in Pitt Street. Racking used previously for
shirts was soon filled with freshly made chocolates and
confectionery. (To this day the basic shirt rack format is still
used by Darrell Lea).
On most days the shop sold out by early
afternoon and had to be shut - so the family started cooking for
the next day!
Success led to other
Darrell Lea shops opening along Pitt Street and an enlarged
factory was soon opened under the first arch of the Sydney Harbour
Bridge. The first deliveries were by horse and cart, and later by
Model T Ford, confections were delivered twice a day to each of
the shops. Fresh product was the priority! The Darrell Lea
reputation started to spread.
In 1940, two of Harry's sons, Monty and Harris,
opened a similar manufacturing operation in Melbourne with a
number of shops in the city. The Swanston Street shop is
still going strong today.
Monty's son, Jason, helped open the Hobart shop
in 1956 within the Fitzgerald Department Store. In 1966 Maurice opened
two shops in Brisbane to which he personally delivered fresh stock
every day until his retirement at the ripe old age of 90, the same
year, 1966, an Adelaide shop was opened by Harry's grandson,
Robert. Business continued to prosper, and a large factory was
established in Kogarah, the site of the current manufacturing
facility.
On October 30, 1980, a disastrous fire destroyed
90% of the manufacturing facilities at Kogarah. By 1982 the
factory was rebuilt and equipped with new, modern machinery.
Members of the family for many years lived
on the premises continuing the tradition of 'make today - sell
tomorrow'. Today the Kogarah facility operates 24/7. Product
is made fresh every day and we still try and deliver on a daily
basis.
Nineteenth
Century images- State Library of New South Wales
