Brisbane southside Archives - Mount Gravatt News

Mt Gravatt Gets First Taste as Haigh’s Opens Its First Brisbane Store

When Haigh’s opened its first Brisbane store, the Adelaide icon launched its expansion on the southside. By choosing Westfield Mt Gravatt, the chocolatier prioritised southern Brisbane customers who had long relied on online deliveries or interstate trips to get their fix.

Long before opening a local shopfront, Haigh’s Chocolates had built a major digital presence in the Sunshine State. According to the company, Queenslanders accounted for roughly 18 per cent of its online sales prior to the physical expansion.

Constant requests for a local brick-and-mortar store followed, building an overwhelming case for the move north.

Online Loyalty Turns Into a Local Shopfront

The Mt Gravatt opening on 28 August transitions Haigh’s from mail-order packages and interstate holiday runs into the local retail mix.

The store carries enduring favorites—including Chocolate Frogs, Speckles, and Scorched Almonds—alongside its broader range of signature milk and dark chocolates. Shoppers are also treated to complimentary tastings on arrival.

The Best of Australia Hamper
Photo Credit: Haigh’s

Haigh’s chief executive Peter Millard noted that Queensland had been one of the company’s strongest online markets for years, with customers routinely asking when a physical store would arrive. The Brisbane rollout directly answers that demand: Mt Gravatt leads the way, with additional locations at Westfield Chermside and Westfield Carindale slated to follow in November.

Mt Gravatt Gets the First Taste

The opening marks the first step in Haigh’s Queensland expansion. Westfield Mt Gravatt, formerly known as Westfield Garden City, is a key shopping destination for the area and a natural fit for the brand’s first local store.

Excitement surrounding the launch was clear well before day one. Competition winners attended an exclusive preview event on 27 August, enjoying early store access and tastings before the official public opening the following morning.

Opening promotions ran into early September, featuring a complimentary 200g bag of Milk Chocolate Speckles for customers spending $75 or more.

A 111-Year-Old Brand Moves Closer to Home

Founded in Adelaide in 1915, Haigh’s remains family-owned and continues to craft its chocolates directly from raw cocoa beans using traditional artisan techniques.

While Chermside and Carindale will soon expand the brand’s local footprint, Mt Gravatt claims the title of Brisbane’s original site. After years of online orders streaming in from the north, Australia’s oldest bean-to-bar chocolatier has finally met its customers where they live—starting on Brisbane’s southside.

Published 1-Sept-2026

Powerful Australian Documentary Screening in Mount Gravatt

Southside audiences can experience the new documentary Conquering Breast Cancer when it arrives at Event Cinemas Garden City in Upper Mount Gravatt. The film explores the progress being made in breast cancer research while sharing deeply personal stories from Australians affected by the disease.

Presented beginning 10 June by filmmaker Sue Collins and produced by impact filmmakers Mike Hill and Sue Collins, the feature-length documentary combines expert medical insight with the personal experiences of survivors, advocates and researchers working to reduce the impact of breast cancer in Australia.

Among those featured are Olympic legend and breast cancer advocate Raelene Boyle AM, MBE, First Nations survivor and mountaineer Kristal Kinsela, male breast cancer survivor and former professional basketballer Paul Maley, and podcaster Dr Charlotte Tottman. The film also includes insights from leading experts including Professor Bruce Mann, Professor Kelly-Anne Phillips and Associate Professor Christine Chaffer.

conquering breast cancer documentary — *Photo Credit: Supplied*

More Than 20,000 Australians Diagnosed Every Year

Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among Australian women and the second most commonly diagnosed cancer overall.

According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, more than 20,000 Australians are diagnosed with breast cancer each year. Around 56 people receive a diagnosis every day, while more than 3,300 Australians lose their lives to the disease annually — the equivalent of approximately nine deaths every day.

While the majority of cases occur in women over 50, breast cancer also affects younger Australians. Around 1,000 women under the age of 40 are diagnosed each year, highlighting the importance of awareness and early detection across all age groups.

The Survivors, Advocates and Experts Behind the Film

Rather than focusing solely on statistics, Conquering Breast Cancer tells the stories of Australians whose lives have been changed by the disease.

The documentary follows survivors, patient advocates and researchers from across the country, exploring everything from diagnosis and treatment to survivorship, recurrence, genetic risk and the emotional impact breast cancer can have on individuals and families.

breast cancer patient — *Photo Credit: Supplied*

The film also highlights the experiences of people living with metastatic breast cancer, as well as Australians making difficult decisions around preventative treatment after discovering they are at high genetic risk of developing the disease.

Early Detection Remains One of the Strongest Defences

A central theme throughout the documentary is the importance of prevention and early detection.

Medical experts featured in the film discuss advances in screening technologies, personalised risk assessment, targeted therapies and clinical trials that are helping improve outcomes for patients.

While Australia has achieved five-year survival rates of more than 90 per cent, the filmmakers argue that breast cancer is far from solved and that ongoing investment in research, screening programs and access to treatment remains essential.

The documentary also examines how researchers are working towards reducing recurrence rates and improving long-term outcomes for those who have already undergone treatment.

researchers working on breast cancer improvements — *Photo Credit: Supplied*

The Growing Impact on Australian Families and Communities

Beyond the personal toll, breast cancer continues to have a significant impact on communities across Australia.

More than 160,000 Australians are currently living after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis within the past decade. Research has also shown the disease carries substantial social and economic costs, affecting workforce participation, family wellbeing and quality of life.

breast cancer warriors and supporters — *Photo Credit: Supplied*

The filmmakers hope the documentary will encourage more Australians to understand their personal risk, participate in recommended screening programs and support ongoing efforts to improve prevention, treatment and research.

As the third instalment in the Conquering Cancer documentary series, Conquering Breast Cancer aims to start conversations, challenge complacency and highlight both the progress that has been made and the work that still lies ahead.

For more information and session times, visit ConqueringBreastCancer.com.au.

Published 9-June-2026

Haigh’s Chocolates to Open Its First Queensland Store at Westfield Mt Gravatt

Haigh's Chocolates

Haigh’s Chocolates, Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate maker, will open its first Queensland store at Westfield Mt Gravatt in August 2026, marking the Adelaide brand’s long-awaited retail debut in Brisbane after more than a century in business.

Two further stores at Chermside and Carindale will follow later in the year, bringing Haigh’s total national footprint to 26 stores across Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane. The three-store rollout represents the brand’s most significant expansion since it entered the Sydney market, and for Brisbane chocolate lovers who have spent years relying on online orders or interstate trips to get their hands on Haigh’s product, the arrival of a local store feels genuinely overdue.

A Brand Built on Over a Century of Craft

Haigh’s Chocolates was founded on 1 May 1915 by Alfred E. Haigh in Adelaide, South Australia, making it Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate maker. What began as a small confectionery shop at the Beehive Corner on King William Street has grown across four generations of family ownership into one of Australia’s most recognisable premium food brands, with a loyal following that stretches well beyond its South Australian home.

Haigh's Chocolates was founded in 1915 — Photo Credit: Haigh’s Chocolates

Haigh’s has maintained its primary manufacturing operations in Adelaide since its founding, where it produces its range of chocolates using a bean-to-bar approach, roasting its own cocoa beans to create its milk and dark chocolate blends from ethically sourced ingredients. That commitment to in-house production from bean to finished product distinguishes Haigh’s from most other chocolate retailers operating in Australia, where the majority of premium brands import finished chocolate rather than manufacturing it locally.

In September 2025, Haigh’s opened a new $120 million state-of-the-art facility in Salisbury South, spanning 18,000 square metres and incorporating advanced European-made equipment for production, warehousing and online fulfilment. The new facility increases Haigh’s production capacity from 1,100 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes of chocolate per year, providing the manufacturing headroom needed to support both the Brisbane expansion and the company’s broader national growth strategy.

Haigh’s Chocolates – Bean to Bar Process:

Haigh’s Chocolates, established in 1915, is Australia’s oldest family-owned chocolate maker focused on premium, small-batch chocolate production.
The process begins with sourcing high-quality, ethically produced cocoa beans from regions like Ghana and Peru, with most coming from Rainforest Alliance certified farms.
The beans are cleaned using sieves, magnets, and airflow systems, then roasted at about 120°C for 30–90 minutes to enhance flavour and remove moisture.
Roasted beans are crushed and winnowed to remove the outer shell, leaving cocoa nibs, which are ground into a bitter liquid cocoa liquor.
The cocoa liquor is mixed with cocoa butter, sugar, vanilla, and sometimes milk powder, then refined through rollers to create a smooth texture.
The chocolate undergoes conching, where it is heated, aerated, and mixed for several hours to develop its flavour and silky consistency.
Tempering follows, where the chocolate is carefully cooled and reheated to achieve a glossy finish and stable structure.
The tempered chocolate is moulded into shapes or hand-dipped to create products like truffles and other specialty chocolates.
Small-batch production methods are used to maintain freshness and ensure high-quality output across a wide range of products.
Finally, chocolates are hand-finished, carefully packaged, and continuously improved through new product development released during special occasions.

Why Brisbane, Why Now

The Brisbane move is driven by clear commercial evidence. Queensland customers currently represent 18 per cent of Haigh’s total online sales, making the state a significant and demonstrable market despite having no physical retail presence to date. For a brand that sells exclusively through its own stores and website, that level of online demand from a market with no bricks-and-mortar outlet signals a substantial untapped opportunity.

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Chief Executive Peter Millard confirmed that the combination of strong Queensland online demand and the newly expanded production capacity at Salisbury South made 2026 the right moment to enter the Brisbane market. The three-store strategy reflects confidence in the city’s appetite for premium chocolate, with Westfield Mt Gravatt anchoring the initial launch before Chermside and Carindale extend the brand’s reach across the northern and eastern suburbs later in the year.

Westfield Mt Gravatt draws shoppers from across a wide catchment spanning the southern and south-eastern suburbs, and the arrival of a Haigh’s store adds a genuinely distinctive retail experience to a centre that already serves as a significant southside anchor.

Haigh’s Chocolates will open at Westfield Mt Gravatt in August 2026, with Chermside and Carindale to follow later in the year. Further information about Haigh’s products and the Brisbane openings is available at haighschocolates.com.au.

Published 27-March-2026.

A Build-Your-Own Cake Bar Is Coming to Westfield Mt Gravatt on 28 March

The Cake Bar/Facebook

A first-of-its-kind dessert concept called The Cake Bar opens at Westfield Mt Gravatt on Saturday 28 March, giving shoppers at the Upper Mt Gravatt centre the ability to build a fully personalised, freshly assembled cake on the spot rather than ordering one day in advance.

The concept fills a gap that sits between the impulse dessert market — think Yo-Chi, which already operates at Garden City — and the traditional custom cake bakery, where lead times and minimum orders put the experience out of reach for a spontaneous weeknight craving or a last-minute birthday. The Cake Bar plants itself squarely in between: a fresh cake, assembled to order, available in the time it takes to walk from the carpark to the food court.

A Custom Dessert Experience

Customers kick things off by picking a cake base from a solid lineup of flavours. From there, the build branches out across premium fillings, frostings, and toppings, with a menu ranging from decadent chocolate to childhood throwbacks like raspberry jellies, sherbet, and sour straps. Crucially, the range is built for everyone, offering gluten-free and vegan options to ensure those with dietary requirements don’t miss out on the sugar hit. The model is deliberately open-ended—the same counter can whip up a clean, frosted red velvet for the traditionalists or a stacked, sprinkle-covered creation for the kids.

The kitchen assembles the order fresh, on the spot, from premium ingredients. Nothing sits pre-made in a display fridge. That distinction matters operationally: it means the quality of a custom-ordered cake without the custom-order wait.

A Sweet Addition to the Food Scene

Westfield Mt Gravatt is one of Brisbane’s largest shopping centres, located approximately 12 kilometres south of the CBD, with more than 400 retailers, three supermarkets, Event Cinemas, and a food and dining offer that spans two indoor food courts, an outdoor dining precinct and an Asian street food strip called 8 Street. The centre draws shoppers from Mt Gravatt, Macgregor, Wishart, Mansfield, Rochedale South and across Brisbane’s southside.

The dessert category at the centre already includes Yo-Chi, alongside a broader entertainment and dining precinct that includes Timezone, Holey Moley, Cloud 8 Karaoke and Hijinx Hotel. The Cake Bar adds a format that none of the existing operators cover: a made-to-order, whole-cake dessert experience priced and positioned for everyday shoppers rather than special-occasion pre-orders.

For families doing the weekly shop, the model is simple enough to be a spontaneous stop rather than a planned event. For parents with kids in tow — and Garden City’s family-heavy southside catchment means there are plenty of them on any given Saturday — the interactive build-your-own format offers more engagement than a standard dessert counter.

Good News for Sweet Tooths

Brisbane’s dessert and specialty food market has expanded significantly over the past five years, with concepts built around the build-your-own model proving durable in both food courts and high-street locations. The Cake Bar represents the format applied to one of the few categories — fresh cake — that had not yet made the transition from pre-order to impulse. This adds a locally accessible version of an experience that previously required either a custom order from a bakery or a trip into the CBD.

The Cake Bar is at Westfield Mt Gravatt, Logan Road, Upper Mt Gravatt. More information is available here ahead of the 28 March opening.

Published 12-March-2026.