I have a confession to make: I have a long-standing habit of visiting Haigh’s Chocolates whenever I’m in Melbourne, Sydney or Adelaide. It was never really a question of whether I would go. I would simply find myself near a Haigh’s store, stock up on the things I liked, discover something else I apparently needed and return home with considerably less money than I arrived with.
So you can imagine my reaction when Haigh’s announced it was finally opening in Brisbane. Fifteen minutes from my house.This is not good news for my bank account. But such incredible news for my tum.
Haigh’s has opened its first Brisbane store at Westfield Mt Gravatt, bringing the South Australian chocolate maker’s full retail experience to Queensland for the first time. The company has been making chocolate in Australia since 1915, and Brisbane has spent a very long time getting its Haigh’s fix via online orders and interstate luggage allowances.
And, because I take my journalistic responsibilities very seriously, I was given a peek inside before the doors opened. There was chocolate to taste. I tasted the chocolate. I bought the chocolate. A surprising amount of chocolate came home with me.
It was, in other words, a difficult day at the office.
The problem with giving me access to a Haigh’s store
The thing about Haigh’s is that the range is much bigger than the obvious suspects. Yes, there are the frogs. Yes, there are the Speckles. Yes, there are the Scorched Almonds and the Pastilles that have been quietly ruining people’s ability to practise portion control for decades. But then you start looking around.
There are milk, dark and white chocolates, caramel, berry, citrus, coffee, coconut, nuts, fruit and nut combinations, honeycomb, peppermint, truffles and assorted selections. The current range includes everything from chocolate-covered macadamias and Maltichocs to Rocky Road, ganache and chocolate blocks.
This is where the carefully considered purchase begins to unravel.
You might walk in thinking you’ll grab a box of chocolates for someone else and leave with a packet of Pastilles for yourself, some Speckles because you haven’t had them in a while, a Frog because it would be rude not to and something involving caramel that you don’t remember picking up. I speak from experience.
The Pastilles deserve their own paragraph
I will also use this opportunity to settle an extremely important matter: Haigh’s Pastilles have one of the most satisfying snaps in the chocolate world.
And before anyone asks, yes, I am aware of the great fridge-versus-cupboard chocolate debate. I am firmly in the camp that says it depends on the chocolate, the weather and your personal priorities. But there is something particularly pleasing about biting into a Pastille that has that little bit of resistance before the chocolate gives way.
Haigh’s currently sells milk, dark, orange, coffee and caramel Pastilles, among others, so even this apparently simple chocolate has become a surprisingly broad category. And yes, I tested them without putting them in the fridge.
The snap held. And THAT, my friends, is what you call science… or journalism… or whatever you want to call it.
The Mt Gravatt store is the first of three Haigh’s locations coming to Brisbane, with stores at Westfield Chermside and Westfield Carindale set to follow in November. Which means my previous strategy of carefully timing interstate trips around a Haigh’s visit has become completely unnecessary.
So if you see someone leaving Mt Gravatt with a suspiciously large bag of chocolate and the expression of a person who has made several poor financial decisions, it may be me. And if it is me, I’m probably carrying Pastilles. Or an already empty bag of pastilles that didn’t even make it out of the store.
In her spare time, she likes long walks down the makeup aisle and performing in Brisbane theatre. You can follow her adventures on Instagram and TikTok @thebeautypalate.
