Feb 10, 2018 - Yesterday  we signed the lease for the new OCHO chocolate factory on Roberts Street in Dunedin. It has taken some time now to find the perfect place, close to the waterfront and with the capacity for both a production space and cafe. There is so much to do in order to get the site up and running, and we are expecting things to be underway for our new site in the second half of this year.

Our first priority is production. By the end of this year, we want to be making two or three times the amount of chocolate we do now. This will mean commissioning a new production line which is on order. After we have that up and running smoothly, we will start taking tours through the factory. We know you all want to come and visit, but you will have to wait a little longer!

We have plans to put in a cafe, a retail space, and create a world-class factory tour down the line. In the meantime, our Vogel St cafe will remain our front of house with a test kitchen so you can still drink hot chocolate and smell the delightful aroma of cacao beans roasting out the back.

Our PledgeMe campaign is almost wrapped up, and we are overwhelmed with the support from more than 3,000 shareholders. Jim O'Malley and the Dunedin Manufacturing Holdings team have done an outstanding job planning and executing the next chapter for OCHO.

So why are we doing all of this? We believe business should be all about people. Our team has been looking at how we will evaluate success and we have nailed it down to seven core areas:

• Have a broad base of community ownership
• Make high quality craft chocolate
• Pay fair wages to workers
• Pay fair prices for cocoa beans
• Retain industry and craft skills in Dunedin with a profitable business
• Respect the environment through sustainable business practices
• Keep worker-CEO pay ratios within an agreed multiple
• Support the wider communities of our workers, growers & customers

Having so many shareholders from the beginning is something we are really proud of in developing the new OCHO factory. Not only do we have a great sense of accountability in our decision-making, but it is truly motivating to know thousands of people like what we do and why we do it.

So thank you to our community for getting behind the Own The Factory campaign. We hope to see all at our open days later in the year.

OCHO is a craft bean-to-bar chocolate company based in Dunedin, New Zealand. Having successfully campaigned to raise $2 million in just over one day, OCHO is set to give back to the community that supports their enterprise. Browse the range of single-origin premium chocolate on the website, www.ocho.co.nz. If you would like to get in touch with the OCHO team, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

| A OCHO release   ||  February 10, 2018   |||