Ethical chocolate brand Hey Tiger roars onto Woolworths shelves

Melbourne-based premium and ethical chocolate brand Hey Tiger says “the tiger is out of the bag” as the company roars onto the shelves of Australian supermarket giant Woolworths.

The brand was originally founded by Envato co-founder Cyan Ta’eed in 2018, however Ta’eed announced the closure of Hey Tiger in May 2021, citing profitability with social impact and challenges in balancing scale.

Food and beverage company Soulfresh, which was established in 2003 by founder Didi Lo, relaunched the brand in May 2022 and breathed new life into the brand, adding it to its stable of consumer brands that also includes Lo Bros, Another Bloody Water, and Nutty Bruce. 

The company’s head of marketing, Rai Bostock, confirmed to SmartCompany on Monday that Hey Tiger products are now available in 100 select Woolworths stores, with some exciting plans on the horizon for the brand coming in September 2023. 

Three Hey Tiger varieties will be available in the ‘premium’ Woolworths stores, including ‘Best Mates’ (milk chocolate with caramelised popcorn and coconut), ‘Summer in the City’ (milk chocolate with peanut butter and pretzel) and ‘The Weekend’ (dark milk chocolate with caramel and waffle crumb). 

“This ranging in premium stores complements our existing Hey Tiger availability through our independent supermarket partners who have really supported Hey Tiger from the beginning,” she said. 

“We have lots of exciting things on the horizon for Hey Tiger including a brand collaboration and new flavour launch in September.”

Bostock added that the brand believes everyone should have access to the brand’s ethical chocolate, which developed somewhat of a cult following under Ta’eed’s ownership. 

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The brand is committed to sourcing the cocoa it uses ethically and 2% of each block of Hey Tiger chocolate sold is donated to The Hunger Project, a charity that focuses on women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship and social development.

Before its closure in May 2021, Hey Tiger had sold around 700,000 bars of its chocolate in Australia and beyond, and donated $400,000 to The Hunger Project and its support for cocoa farming communities in Ghana.

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“We think everyone should have access to our delicious and ethical chocolate which is why this was such a big and exciting step for us,” Bostock said. 

“With Woolworths increasingly focused on differentiated brands with strong environmental or ethical credentials, it was a great conversation from the get-go about how we could strategically partner to bring Hey Tiger into selected Woolworths stores.

“We have a really great community on social media and we get lots of DMs and posts of people either hunting or having found us in store, which has driven a lot of excitement amongst Hey Tiger fans.”