Ernest Hillier chocolates falls into foreign hands

After a century of peddling sweet treats, Australia's first chocolatier, Ernest Hillier, has joined the long list of famous food companies to fall into foreign hands.

The Ernest Hillier and Newman's brands, privately owned by Melbourne's Piedimonte family since 1996, have been sold to Re:Capital, the global investment arm of British "vulture fund" Hillco.

The deal also means Ernest Hillier won't go the same way as Darrell Lea, which went into administration in 2012.

Re:Capital becomes just the fourth owner of Ernest Hillier since it was founded in Sydney in 1914, the brainchild of the eccentric English-born entrepreneur Ernest Hillier.

Hillier and his Australian wife, Magdalen May, travelled from England to California at the turn of the century to learn the booming "soda trade". When the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed their business, the couple relocated to Sydney and opened Australia's first American-style soda fountain at Fairfield. Fire wiped out that business in 1913, so Hillier turned his hand to importing cocoa beans and making chocolate – a skill he learned in America.

His first shop, at 162 Pitt Street in Sydney, was opened in 1914, and Hillier's Chocolates boomed, as imported chocolate at the time was of poor quality.

By 1926, his company's chocolate factory employed more than 400 people, but the Great Depression hit the company hard. In 1934, Hilliers Chocolates relocated to Melbourne, and opened the famous old Collins Street store in the Regent Theatre.

Re:Capital has committed to preserving the Hillier's Chocolates name and corporate identity, as well as its manufacturing facilities in Coburg.

The current chief executive, Mark Campbell, will remain, and try to take Australia's oldest chocolate to new overseas markets.

"We are delighted to welcome our new owners to the Hillier's family," said Mr Campbell. "We see this as an exciting time full of opportunity for the business and our staff. For nearly 100 years we've built our reputation for the highest quality confections in Australia, and Re:Capital is the right owner to take the Hillier's business to the next stage of growth.”

The Piedimonte family, which owns a chain of independent supermarkets in Melbourne's northern suburbs, will focus on their retail interests.

List of Australian brands and who owns them

¦ Cottees Cordials: Asahi Breweries (Japan)

¦Bushell's Tea: Unilever (Britain)

¦ Allens Lollies (Fantales, Minties, Jaffas): Nestle (Switzerland)

¦ Mac.Robertsons (Cherry Ripe, Freddo Frog): Asahi Breweries (Japan)

¦ Vegemite: Mondelez International (US)

¦ Aeroplane Jelly: McCormick & Co (US)

¦ Monbulk Jams: Heinz (US)

¦ Billy Tea: Tata Group (India)

¦ Arnott's Biscuits: Campbell Soup Company (US)