Precious mementoes pulled from rubble of former Cadbury office including original chocolate fish mould

June 15, 2021

What's been salvaged means a lot to one family in particular.

Precious mementoes have been pulled from the rubble of the former Cadbury office block in Dunedin, as the site is demolished to make way for a new hospital. 

It’s given the Hudson family a chance to get more insight into their past. Today, for the first time, they’ve been able to view business records dating back to the 1800s after it was discovered by demolition workers. 

Former Cadbury Fry Hudson employee Paul Hudson thought they’d been lost forever. 

“I’m glad they have been found,” he said. 

The records weren’t the only thing found at the site, either. Plans for the Curly Wurly chocolate bar machine and the mould for Cadbury's original chocolate fish have been recovered.

Founder Richard Hudson first trained as a biscuit maker with John Griffin, founder of Griffin's biscuits. 

Hudson and Co. then merged with Cadbury in 1929. 

After more than eight decades of making chocolate, and despite millions being raised in 2017 to keep the doors open, demolition started last year. 

Hudson said he tried not to drive past it too often as it was being demolished. 

Megan Lawrence, an archaeologist at New Zealand Heritage Properties, said there was a bit of demolition left. 

“Once we get into the earthworks phase, we’re definitely going to find a lot more artifacts,” she said.

All discoveries will be catalogued and stored to ensure the Hudson family’s story is told well into the future.

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