Melanice and Tim_Cha Cha Chocolate
Melanice was born into a family that owned a chocolate factory. The Jacobsen family owned and ran Jakes Candy in Bundaberg for several decades where they made and sold their own chocolates and candies. As a teen Melanice worked for the family business for several years before heading off to work in various other professions, however owning and running a chocolate shop was what she always dreamed of doing. So, three years ago Melanice opened Cha Cha Chocolate as an 8 week pop up shop in Targo Street and they have never looked back. It has now become a family business and continues to go from strength to strength. They recently moved to a larger shop in the main CBD of Bundaberg where their bright, eye catching window displays attracts anyone passing by. The shop sells too many amazing products to list but includes a range of chocolates, candies, handmade products, both local and international confectionary as well as hampers full of goodies.
By Easter, the impact of Covid19 and its restrictions were being felt by many. Obviously, Easter marks a very important time for a chocolate business, and it meant that Cha Cha Chocolate had thousands of dollars of Easter eggs in stock. This was a very fearful and difficult time for Melanice and meant that she could potentially loose her business overnight. Fortunately, the business was able to continue operating. However, in order to ensure the survival of her business, Melanice worked furiously to get as many products as possible onto their online store, they also began offering free deliver anywhere in Bundaberg and free shipping anywhere in Australia. And because of this innovation, hard work and perseverance the shop had its biggest Easter yet and is continuing to flourish.
Melanice has been surprised by the positive impacts brought about by Covid19 not only for her business but also the benefits that other businesses have talked about with her, she stated: “I think the most surprising thing is how better we all are because of it, so whether we’ve innovated, or people have got new websites or you know the cash flow boost from the government has allowed people to paint their shops and get new furniture for their restaurants, so there is always good that comes from something like this”.
While it was the hard work and persistence that helped to keep the business open, Melanice explained that it was also people and the community supporting them that kept Cha Cha Chocolate going, she stated: “It’s all about people. My Dad taught me from the very beginning, if you look after your customers you don’t have to worry about anything else”. She went on to say: “The community saved us, it wasn’t one person, it wasn’t a hundred people, it was everyone in Bundaberg and everyone around Australia they literally saved our business. So, I sort of feel now it’s a bit of a community shop, because without them we would have lost our business over night”.
During this time Melanice was lucky to witness several moments of kindness, however the one that stays with her the most is the day a woman came into the shop who had just lost her job in hospitality and she had decided that she wanted to spend her last paycheck in a local shop. She wanted to buy her Easter eggs from a local business, even though shopping at one of the other big chain stores would have saved her money, Melanice said: “I’ll never forget that girl”.
Cha Cha Chocolate is everything you might imagine a chocolate shop should be, I want to say a massive thank you to Melanice and Tim for their time, sharing their story and for chocolate.
Cha Cha Chocolate, 84 Bourbong Street, Bundaberg QLD 4670
Ph: (07) 4152 4204