Violet Crumble purchased from global giant Nestle by South Australian company Robern Menz
AUSSIE favourite Violet Crumble is now in South Australian hands, bringing with it the promise of 30 new jobs and a $4 million expansion for the new owner — with taxpayers also chipping in to continue the 100-plus-year-old brand’s legacy.
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AUSSIE favourite Violet Crumble is now in South Australian hands, bringing with it the promise of 30 new jobs and a $4 million expansion for the new owner — with taxpayers also chipping in to continue the 100-plus-year-old brand’s legacy.
Fourth generation family-owned SA business Robern Menz, which already makes FruChocs and Choc Honeycomb, has signed an agreement with Nestlé to acquire the Violet Crumble brand.
Violet Crumble chocolate bars with their crumbly honeycomb toffee centre, sold in striking purple and yellow packaging with the famous tagline “It’s the way it shatters that matters”, have been made in Australia since they were first invented in the 1910s in Melbourne.
Robern Menz’s agreement with Nestle does not include the famous Royal Show chocolates Bertie Beetles, which are made from honeycomb left over from Violet Crumble production.
Robern Menz said Thursday it will obtain Nestlé’s rights to the trademark and brand globally, with manufacturing, sales and marketing operations transitioning from Nestlé gradually throughout 2018.
The takeover will allow Glynde-based company to employ up to an additional 30 positions with the company investing a further $4 million this year on a factory refit and extension as well as new warehousing facilities to further support the production of Violet Crumble and the growing demand for Robern Menz’s other products.
Violet Crumble will be made in Adelaide from September once Nestle’s existing manufacturing line from its Campbellfield facility near Melbourne is moved here.
Nestle said there were no associated job losses in Victoria and it remained committed to manufacturing other brands, including KitKat, Milkybar, Allens and Soothers in Australia.
“The sale of the Violet Crumble brand to Robern Menz recognises that they are well
positioned to combine their existing honeycomb manufacturing with that of Violet Crumble
and continue to invest behind this well-loved brand,” Nestle’s confectionery general manager Martin Brown said.
The company has also secured $750,000 from the state government’s $200 million Future Jobs Fund as well as a $900,000 loan from the Investment Attraction Agency.
Property Council of Australia SA executive director Daniel Gannon criticised the handout.
“The State Government one week cuts funding to attract company headquarters to Adelaide to help grow the economy, establish new industries, and create thousands of future jobs for young people, yet provides taxpayer money the very next week for a chocolate bar.”
Premier Jay Weatherill said the state’s investment helped bring together two iconic Australian confectionary brands.
“Like many South Australians, I love Violet Crumbles, and it’s great we can now all enjoy these chocolate bars knowing we’re also supporting South Australian jobs,” he said.
“Robern Menz is a household name in South Australia, and it’s great that this local business has ambitions to grow their operations and create more local jobs in food processing.”
UK migrant Abel Hoadley, who set up A. Hoadley & Company in the 1890s, is credited with inventing the chocolate — with the distinctive packaging said to be a tribute to his wife’s favourite flower and colour.
Hoadley’s Chocolates was sold to UK-based food giant Rowntree Company in 1972, which closed its Adelaide plant in 1985. Nestle bought Rowntree in 1989
Robern Menz chief executive Phil Sims said the brand was a “seamless fit” with its own honeycomb chocolates brand, Choc Honeycomb.
“We are fiercely passionate about Australian brands, and with a significant honeycomb line of our own, the opportunity was too good to pass on.
With our expertise, we can ensure that Violet Crumble is produced with no change to the recipe and with the same passion and affinity Australians have had towards the brand since 1913,” he said.
“As the new gatekeeper of Violet Crumble, we are aware of the responsibility that comes with owning a brand so highly regarded in the Australian market place.”
Robern Menz plans to use the original recipe and reintroduce the product in “a variety of nostalgic formats loved by generations of Australians,” Mr Sims said.
The company has achieved a lot of success with its FruChocs brand using the same strategy.
It will also work on expansion plans, including further exports in the near future.
Robern Menz acknowledged the support of Westpac Banking Corporation and the state government in securing the deal.
valerina.changarathil@news.com.au