Darrell Lea is an Australian company that manufactures and distributes chocolate, liquorice and other confectionery. Its headquarters is based in the Sydney suburb of Ingleburn. After 85 years under the ownership and control of the Lea family, the company went into voluntary administration in 2012 leading to its acquisition, sale and restructuring under new ownership.

History

Darrell Lea was in the ownership of the Lea family from its foundation by Harry Lea until the early 2010s. Harry, who was born on 15 February 1876 in Spitalfields, London, migrated to

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

in 1888 and started making confectionery in 1917 at the back of his Manly Corso fruit shop. Lea started the first shop in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in 1927 in Sydney's Haymarket, being a combined milk bar and confectionery shop. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

in 1929, a shop became vacant in Pitt Street, and in 1935 a factory was established at 1 York Street. His first almond nougat creation was called Bulgarian Rock. Monty (Montague) and Harris Lea, the two middle sons of Harry, opened a manufacturing operation in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, with their first shop on

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the Melbourne central business district, Victoria, Australia. It was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically bisects Melbourne's city centre and is famous as the wor ...

, in 1940. Harry Lea died in 1957. Maurice Lea, Harry's eldest son, opened five shops in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

in 1966 and delivered fresh stock until he (Maurice) retired in 1996. Robert Lea, Harris' second son, opened a shop in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in 1966. In 1968, the company was listed on the

stock exchange A stock exchange, securities exchange, or bourse is an exchange where stockbrokers and traders can buy and sell securities, such as shares of stock, bonds and other financial instruments. Stock exchanges may also provide facilities for ...

, with Darrell (-1992) as chairman and managing director (Harris became managing director in 1971), but was privatised again in 1982, with Jason Durard Lea (28 September 1942 – 12 September 2005), Monty's son, being managing director from 1983 to 1998. Darrell died in 1990, aged 62. In 1992, the Darrell Lea chocolate factory at Kogarah was rebuilt with modern machinery after a fire in the previous year.

Voluntary administration

On 10 July 2012, Darrell Lea was placed into

voluntary administration As a legal concept, administration is a procedure under the insolvency laws of a number of common law jurisdictions, similar to bankruptcy in the United States. It functions as a rescue mechanism for insolvent entities and allows them to carry on ...

due to a review of the business by its directors who had concerns about Darrell Lea's ability to meet its ongoing financial obligations. The company was reported to be losing $200,000 a week, and half of its company-run stores were closed immediately, with the loss of nearly 200 jobs.

Acquisition

On 3 September 2012, the company was acquired by the Queensland owners of VIP Petfoods, the Quinn family. The business was further restructured, with the loss of 172 casual and 246 permanent jobs, leaving only 83 Darrell Lea employees. The last company-owned stores were closed by end of business on 9 September 2012. The Quinns turned the business around after injecting about $30 million into it and building a second factory in Ingleburn. More than 500 products were cut from the product line which halved annual revenue, but stopped the ongoing losses. Darrell Lea products continued to be sold through its licensed retailer network which was expanded into IGA, Coles and Woolworths. In January 2018,

Quadrant Private Equity Quadrant Private Equity (also simply known as Quadrant) is an Australian private equity investment firm based in Sydney, Australia. The company was founded as Quadrant Capital in 1996 by Chris Hadley. Hadley now serves as the firm’s Executive ...

purchased Darrell Lea from the Quinn family for about $200 million. Tony and Christina Quinn retained a significant stake in the company.

Products

Prior to 2012, Darrell Lea's range comprised over 800 products, including chocolate boxes, sugar free products and fundraising items with 60 extra items created seasonally for

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

and

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

. It is particularly famous for its iconic "Rocklea Road" recipe, Australia's most famous version of Rocky Road chocolate. In the review conducted by the Quinn family after the restructure, the company eliminated or put on hold many of the lesser-known products to concentrate on expanding the sales and distribution of its more profitable products.

Legal battle

In April 2008, Darrell Lea won a five-year legal battle brought by rival chocolate company

Cadbury Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company owned by Mondelez International (spun off from Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second-largest confectionery brand in the world, after Mars. ...

over Darrell Lea's use of the colour purple on its packaging (which Cadbury uses for its Dairy Milk range packaging), when the Australian judge ruled that Darrell Lea was not trying to mislead customers by adopting the similar coloured branding."Lea purple rides again after Cadbury backdown"
''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' 9 March 2005

Community involvement

Darrell Lea has sponsored a local high school in order to assist students in continuing their studies to completion, and has supported The Lorna Hodgkinson Sunshine Home which employs people with severe

intellectual disability Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability (in the United Kingdom), and formerly mental retardation (in the United States), Rosa's Law, Pub. L. 111-256124 Stat. 2643(2010).Archive is a generalized neurodevelopmental ...

. Additionally, the company helps organisations such as the Starlight Foundation, Variety Club, and other local youth groups.

References

External links

Darrell Lea – AustraliaDarrell Lea – USAHarry Lea biography
at

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

*{{webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310185337/http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/company-reports/darrell-lea-chocolate-shops, title=Darrell Lea company information on Business Review Australia, origurl=http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/company-reports/darrell-lea-chocolate-shops, date=10 March 2012 Australian brands Australian chocolate companies Companies based in Sydney Retail companies established in 1927 Australian companies established in 1927 Food and drink companies established in 1927 Chocolateries