There’s something particularly appropriate about Noosa Chocolate Factory finding its way to Hastings Street.
What started in a small Noosaville kitchen in 2009 has grown considerably over the years, but the Sunshine Coast remains central to the family-owned business. Now, its latest store is bringing the chocolate maker closer to one of Noosa’s busiest stretches, opening at Village on Hastings this Saturday, October 3rd.
And, given its location just steps from Main Beach, the new space feels designed as much for the wandering holidaymaker as it does the local in need of a coffee – or something considerably more indulgent.
The Hastings Street store combines the company’s handmade chocolate range with a small café seating between 10 and 15 people. A large window looks out across the passing foot traffic, while counter and table seating gives visitors somewhere to escape the heat with a coffee, iced chocolate or one of the store’s more decadent creations.
The latter might be the real temptation.
Rather than relying on powders or syrups, the chocolate drinks are made by melting chocolate drops directly into steaming milk, with five strengths ranging from 29% white chocolate through to a particularly intense 90% extra dark. The brand’s Rocky Road also finds its way into both hot and iced drinks, with vegan and no-added-dairy options available.
Coffee comes courtesy of Padre Coffee, while every drink is accompanied by a chocolate sample – a small detail, but perhaps a dangerous one when surrounded by shelves of the stuff.
Despite moving into arguably Noosa’s most recognisable shopping strip, the new store hasn’t abandoned the handmade sensibility of the original operation. Multi-toned timber floors and bespoke cabinetry have been used throughout the light-filled space, with the fit-out intended to reflect the same artisanal approach taken with the chocolate itself.
Importantly, the chocolate isn’t being produced somewhere anonymous and shipped in from afar.
The Noosaville factory will regularly replenish the Hastings Street shelves with fresh, small-batch products made without palm oil or preservatives. Locally sourced ingredients are incorporated where possible, including macadamias, hazelnuts, pineapple, mango and strawberries, while some of the traditional recipes trace back to the family’s original chocolatier, Charles Thomson, in the 1920s.
Anyone familiar with Noosa Chocolate Factory will recognise plenty of old favourites among the considerably stocked shelves. There are white, milk and dark chocolates alongside caramel, gianduja, ruby and vegan varieties; slabs loaded with honeycomb, nuts, jellies, berries and spices; chocolate-coated fruits and nuts; and the likes of Rocky Road, Caramel Fudge, Noosa Crunch and Peanut and Macadamia Brittle.
For chief executive officer Marcus Raward, the arrival on Hastings Street has also been something of a neighbourhood affair before the doors have even opened.
“We’ve been really welcomed into the fold by neighbouring businesses, and we haven’t opened the doors yet,” he said. “We invite everyone to come and explore what Noosa Chocolate Factory is about, with some exciting events to follow in the weeks to come.”
The expansion has created 11 full-time and casual positions and marks the sixth store for a business that has come a long way from that small Noosaville kitchen 17 years ago. Its original factory, café and retail operation remains on Venture Drive, alongside stores in Brisbane City, Maroochydore’s Sunshine Plaza and Westfield Chermside.
For those planning on visiting during opening week, there is a little extra chocolate potentially waiting at the end of the shop. Between October 3rd and 10th, the first 150 customers who spend $75 or more in a single Hastings Street transaction will receive a complimentary bag of the company’s 36% milk chocolate-coated Sunshine Coast macadamias.
But beyond the opening-week incentive, the more interesting aspect of the new location is seeing a business so associated with Noosa placing itself right in the middle of the town’s most recognisable precinct.
Beach, coffee and handmade chocolate within a few steps of each other? It certainly sounds like Noosa.
