A little company in Far North Queensland is making history as the first Australian chocolate company to crowd source for equity.

The award winning Australian Chocolate P/L – aka ‘Charley’s Chocolate Factory’ – launched its initial campaign with the award-winning equity crowd funding platform, Birchal, in October. And its attracting attention.

Since launch, Charley’s has had over 270 expressions of interest from far and wide.

“There have been expressions of interest from investors living just up the road in [Charley’s] local area of Mission Beach, all the way to the Netherlands and the Solomon Islands. The results and community support have been fantastic so far – people seem to be fascinated by chocolate and very prepared to ‘have a bar of it’ as the saying goes!,” – Claire Brown, Birchal

Founded by Chris and Lynn Jahnke in 2013, Charley’s boasts the world’s first trellised cocoa (or cacao) trees, with the “tree-to-bar” chocolate company gaining global recognition for the quality of their product.

The International Cocoa of Excellence Awards in Paris, considered the ‘Olympics of Cocoa Production’, awarded the Charley’s Mount Edna grown cocoa as one of the top 18 in the world in 2017. Continuing the trend, Charley’s has also been shortlisted for the 2019 Award, which due to be announced in the next few weeks.

“We are enormously proud of this achievement, especially the second time around, and what it means for Australia’s growing cocoa industry,” Lynn said.

“It shows we can compete with the world’s absolute best cocoa growers from well-established regions like Africa and South America – not in terms of volume, but certainly in terms of quality.”

Ruth Medd, the Chair of Charley’s and founding Chair of Women on Boards says she is not surprised at the level of interest. Although based near the trendy coffee shops of inner-urban Sydney, Ruth has become fascinated by the world of cocoa growing at Mission Beach, FNQ.

“Being the Chair of Charley’s and a shareholder in the company has been an amazing experience,” Ruth said.

“It’s not often you get the privilege to be part of a company you can literally see coming out of the ground – growing from the seed of an idea into a sustainable award-winning business supporting local jobs, local farmers and tourism.”

The team at Charley’s hope their success and international recognition encourages more chocolate-lovers and those who support Australian farmers to be part of the crowdfunding campaign, which aims to raise a minimum of $300,000 to expand manufacturing capacity and further develop already popular tourism experiences.

Charley’s long-term aim is increase it’s presence in the craft chocolate market- an industry estimated to be worth $400 million in the next 5-7 years. With the support of customers, everyday Australians and chocolate lovers from across the country Charley’s might just achieve their goal.

Key Facts and Figures

Award-winning Australian Chocolate P/L (Charley’s) is making history as the first Australian chocolate company to crowd source for equity.

More than 270 expressions of interest to date. Closing in 5 days.

Bean to bar production enterprise in Mission Beach, Far North Queensland.

For more information on Charley’s Chocolate Factory, its awards and further investment opportunities, head to https://www.birchal.com/company/charleyschocolate/r/TAQ8FQVP

About

Lynn & Chris Jahnke founded Australian Chocolate Pty Ltd, the company behind the Charley’s Chocolate Factory brand, in 2012, at Mission Beach, FNQ.

The first cocoa pods were harvested less than two years from seed in August 2014 and these made just 50 chocolate bars under the Charley’s Chocolate Factory brand.

Charley’s chocolate is a work of love; all 70% cocoa and meticulously made from either the dried cocoa bean to chocolate bar or from the cocoa tree to the chocolate bar.

A growing group of investors have since joined the Jahnke’s, providing additional capital in order to grow production so that all our customers can be served.

Charley’s Chocolate has been recognized with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals and the overall trophy for Best Chocolate at the Australian Food Awards in 2016 and 2017.

In October 2017 we achieved elite global status when the Salon du Chocolat in Paris judged Mount Edna cocoa as one of the world’s 18 finest. The very best cocoa from 40 countries were submitted to this bi annual completion so this award puts Australian Chocolate and Australian grown cocoa on the world chocolate map.