Darrell Lea

Project scope

883 Wellington Rd, Rowville VIC 3178

Established in 1927, Darrell Lea is the country's largest privately-owned confectionery retailer. The company manufactures and distributes chocolate assortments, pick n mix sweets and signature products such as Rocklea Road, Darrell Lea Bites and Liquorice Lovers liquorice. COVA partnered with Darrell Lea to design and construct a fully automated manufacturing plant incorporating bagging and case packing facilities. As part of its nationwide expansion plans, Darrell Lea engaged COVA to design, engineer and construct a high-performing manufacturing plant for its liquorice business. In response to this, COVA engaged its mechanical and electrical teams to build a fully automated manufacturing plant incorporating bagging and case packing facilities. COVA also created major time and cost benefits for Darrell Lea by installing a palletising system that drew on leading edge robotics technologies. Recently, Darrell Lea has also strived to adopt sustainability and eco-friendly manufacturing principles. COVA addressed this priority by designing processes to minimise wastewater and implementing an automated Cleaning-in-Place (CIP) system to simplify and streamline the cleaning process. From concept and commissioning to construction and final design, the project took only 18 months to complete.