Plans Filed for Tassie’s $150m Chocolate Experience Scheme

Move over, Willy Wonka—plans for a $150-million chocolate experience in Australia’s southernmost state have been filed.

The major tourism experience tied to the Cadbury’s Chocolate Factory near Hobart would revitalise waterfront parklands neighbouring the factory, according to owner and developer of the site, Simon Currant and Associates.

The developer this week submitted an application for the 6000sq m project on Cadbury Road at Glenorchy, 7km from Hobart CBD. 

The Glenorchy Council confirmed that the DA had been received for the project. The scheme was announced last year. 

The proposal includes a build-your-own bar, cafe, cacao forest and playground, as well as a ‘chocolate lounge’ dessert restaurant and emporium. 

The development would renew the Claremont waterfront with landscaped waterways and a new ferry terminal.

But it had been quite a process to get to this point, founder Simon Currant told The Urban Developer. 

▲ The new visitor centre can be seen at the far left of this rendering.

In February of this year the Glenorchy Council agreed to a planning scheme amendment to support tourist operations at the site, which cleared the way for this week’s application, Currant said.

There were also issues with land ownership as a small part of the site is Crown land, he said. 

“But the council is on side, and we’ve tried to cover every single thing we can.”

The project, initially tipped to cost $100 million, is to be 95 per cent privately funded. State support would make up the rest.

It is forecast to welcome 550,000 visitors annually and create 200 ongoing jobs, as well as more than 300 during construction. 

▲ A rendering of the chocolate lounge planned for the project.

While Cadbury owner Mondelēz International is not directly funding the project, it is leasing the land and brand licence for the project.

Simon Currant and Associates had worked with the US multinational food and confectionery giant on visitor experience concepts in Australia and New Zealand for 15 years, Currant said. 

In a media statement, Mondelēz International president for Japan, Australia, and New Zealand Toby Smith said he was optimistic about the project. 

“Given the significant community benefits this project delivers, we’re excited to be on-board as the brand partner, helping to create a lasting tourism and economic legacy for the state,” Smith said.

Tasmanian architecture firm Cumulus Studio teamed with Art Processors—a company launched by David Walsh and born from his Museum of Old and New Art—to shape the creative direction of the project.

▲ A rendering of another of the project attractions, a cacao forest.

Two new purpose-built ferries would service the development, transporting an estimated 80 per cent of visitors from central Hobart to the new Claremont terminal. 

Pending approval, construction would begin on the tourism centre in 2026 ahead of an opening the following year.

The Cadbury Factory was established after a merger of British chocolatiers Fry’s and Cadbury’s in the early 1900s led to overseas expansion. 

The Claremont factory began operations in 1922. Its visitor centre closed in 2015.

According to Tourism Tasmania, visitor numbers to Tasmania rose to 1.35 million in the year to May, an increase of 3.7 per cent on the previous period.