Cadbury Chocolate Factory
In 1881 British chocolate manufacturer Cadbury set up an import and marketing organisation in Australia to distribute products made in its factory in Bournville in the United Kingdom.
Following World War 1 Governments around the world, including in Australia, increased tariffs on imported products including chocolates. With increasing competition from Australian made chocolates, the Cadbury Board decided that the development of local manufacturing in Australia was necessary to preserve and develop their business.
In 1920 a delegation from Cadbury visited Sydney and Melbourne when a chance meeting with the then Tasmanian Premier, Sir Walter Lee, resulted in a visit to Hobart.
A site 13 km north of Hobart called Triffit’s Point was identified as the preferred site for the factory. The Tasmanian Government constructed a rail line to the site and committed to provide other infrastructure.
The site development included the new factory, employee housing, and sports and recreational facilities. The construction of the factory commenced in 1921, and a gala official opening was held on 21 October 1921. The boilers were fired up on 23 January 1922.
Notable engineering in the development of the factory included:
The use of reinforced concrete
Steel reinforced concrete was used throughout the development with a small quarry established to the east of factory site to provide aggregate for the concrete. This was an early use of reinforced concrete.
Reinforced concrete chimney
The construction of the chimney used a unique methodology where precast reinforced concrete plates were located between vertical columns. The columns being progressively cast as the chimney stack height was increased. When assembly of the chimney stack was completed, reinforcing steel was wrapped around the structure and a concrete render was placed over chimney.
Burley Bins
Storage of chocolate crumb is necessary at chocolate factories due to the seasonal flush of milk supply. For the Hobart factory steel silos were used rather than the traditional use of bags. To facilitate the construction of the bins an ingenious jacking system was used whereby sections of the steel silo were fabricated on ground then jacked up and the next section fabricated underneath. Developed by the Plant Engineering Director, Victor Burley, they became known as Burley Bins and have been adopted in Cadbury factories around the world.
Milk Evaporation
The factory developed double-effect milk evaporators to replace the traditional vacuum batch cookers.
Continuous Crumb Manufacture
The essential base for Dairy Milk Chocolate is crumb. The production of crumb was usually done in a batch process. The Claremont factory developed a continuous process which served as the model for similar processes in factories around the world.
Further improvements and developments in the manufacture of chocolate developed at the Claremont factory are included in the nomination document in the references link below.
Engineering Heritage Recognition Program
| Marker Type | Engineering Heritage National Marker (EHNM) |
| Award Date | July 2023 |
| Heritage Significance | Significant industry in Tasmania with many Australian Engineering innovations. |
| Nomination Document | Available here. |
| Ceremony Booklet Ceremony Report |
Not available |
| Plaque/Interpretation Panel | Not available. |
