The administrator of Darrell Lea is hopeful of a quick sale, after receiving several unsolicited approaches for the business on Tuesday.

The directors of Darrell Lea Chocolate Shops placed the company in voluntary administration this morning, leaving up to 700 jobs at risk.

PPB Advisory, the same company handling the recent Hastie Group collapse, has been placed in charge of administering the company.

In a statement, PPB said Darrell Lea's directors called it in amid concerns about whether the company could meet its ongoing financial obligations.

PPB also said the business will continue operating as usual for the time being, with the owners providing some short-term financial support while the administrators try to sell the company.

At a press conference this afternoon, PPB's Mark Robinson said that sale process may be quicker than initially anticipated with approaches from Australia and overseas.

"I'm very confident that there are interested buyers, and I've already received a number of unsolicited responses due to the high media profile just today," he observed.

However, Mr Robinson says a sale is no guarantee there will not be job losses.

"It's too early to tell. I've been in there for six or seven hours, obviously our focus is to save as many [jobs] as possible," he added.

The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union's Jennifer Dowell, who represents workers at the company's factory, says her members have been told the company only has enough money to remain open for about five weeks while administrators search for a potential buyer.

"I mean everybody's shocked, they're dreadfully upset. We had no prior warning whatsoever," she said.

Darrell Lea has 69 owned or licensed stores and its products are sold through 1,800 other retail outlets in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.

Between its retail network and its factory in Sydney, the company employs around 700 people.

The Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she hopes the company can continue trading under a new owner to preserve the historic brand as well as the jobs.

"Darrell Lea is such an icon of a business," she said.

"We all know Darrell Lea, we know its products, we've all been into its shops, everybody's probably eaten a lot of their rocky road over the course of their lives - I know I have."

Darrell Lea has been selling sweets since 1927 and is still privately owned by the Lea family.