Karl Hogarth of Hogarth Chocolate in front of ageing chocolate bars in his Nelson factory.

The public backlash over the closure of the Cadbury factory in Dunedin didn't surprise Nelson chocolate maker Karl Hogarth.

"You can understand why everyone's feeling so heated about it with all the jobs going and absolutely no regard for the local economy."



What did surprise him, though, was how the commentary around the controversy was focused on two chocolate companies — Cadbury and Whittaker's.



In protest of the factory closure, many people took to social media and opinion pages to say they were boycotting Cadbury in favour of New Zealand-made Whittaker's.

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"People don't realise there's more than two chocolate-making companies in New Zealand," Hogarth said.



"And it's not all about supermarket chocolate either, there's some better stuff out there."

MARION VAN DIJK/FAIRFAX NZ New flavours in the making at the Hogarth chocolate factory.

Hogarth is Nelson's only bean-to-bar chocolate maker, and one of a small number of craft producers in New Zealand.

His company, Hogarth Craft Chocolate, launched at the Nelson Market in early 2015.

In the past two years, the chocolate has launched into six international markets — England, France, United States, China, Japan and Australia.

MARION VAN DIJK Chocolate in the melange mixer.

It's also been featured on the menus of some of New Zealand's best restaurants, including French Cafe in Auckland and Josh Emmet's Rata in Queenstown.

Celebrity chef Simon Gault is also a fan, helping to distribute Hogarth chocolate to restaurants.

Hogarth is collaborating with Gault on a new flavour with Gault that will be released this year.

Hogarth chocolate is now available at more than 50 outlets across the country.

Despite the growth and increased sales, Hogarth said a "culture shift" was required to change New Zealand's taste for craft chocolate.

It would take a re-education, he said, similar to what happened with the shift to craft beer and quality coffee.

He said Hogarth was "completely different chocolate" to what was found on supermarket shelves and in terms of the philosophy behind sourcing the ingredients.

"What has to happen is there has to be culture shift for people to understand that Cadbury isn't proper chocolate," Hogarth said.

"Craft chocolate makers are making proper chocolate with sugar and cocoa beans, not all the other crap.

"If you go to Europe it's all dark chocolate."

For now, Hogarth said he will continue refining his craft, working on new varieties while refusing to compromise on quality.

"People will share something if it's quality and they have a good experience with it," he said.

"That was the idea from the start. We want good chocolate inside good packaging which will generate interest — and it's proven to be correct."