Mayfield Chocolates was founded in 1993 in Australia, on the Gold Coast by Peter Ingall and the late Danica Antunovich. Its first retail store was situated at Marina Mirage, Main Beach. The Mayfield Chocolates factory is now based in Brisbane. Mayfield Chocolates has always been Australian owned.
Australia produces many fine foods and beverages of the highest quality: Queensland dark rum, Tasmanian leatherwood honey from the mountain wilderness, native macadamia nuts sourced from the local region and pure fresh cream, to name but a few.
The fundamental philosophy of Mayfield Chocolates, from the beginning, has been to make use of real Australian ingredients such as these and to use them in imaginative and original ways with chocolate of the highest quality. The result is that the chocolates "taste real", with substantial variations in texture as well as flavour.
Mayfield Chocolates recipes were developed in our Brisbane test kitchen and sensorily evaluated by experts. Almost all are in fact world firsts. They are not just copies of existing chocolates you might have tried elsewhere, so they make an ideal gift for someone with a discerning palate. One feature to note is that Mayfield's chocolates contain fresh cream or cocoa butter - not vegetable fats, which can leave a "waxy" residue in the mouth.
Mayfield Chocolates entered a number of competitions in its early years and repeatedly won awards at the Sydney Royal Easter Show, including Champion Chocolate in 1995 and 1997. In 1999, Mayfield Chocolates won a Gold Medal in Belgium. These awards are of perhaps of most interest to those unfamiliar with Mayfield Chocolates, but "the proof is in the eating", and our customers form their own judgments. Regardless of awards, we seek to maintain the quality of our products at a constant high standard.
At Mayfield Chocolates, we are very concerned to ensure that the chocolates are supplied to you in perfect condition. Accordingly, they are only available from selected locations.
Mayfield Chocolate products all contain -
Real superior quality chocolate (no compounded chocolate)
No hydrogenated or any other kind of vegetable fats
No animal fats or gelatine
No added artificial flavouring
No added artificial colouring
No added metallic colourings
No added preservatives
For more information about ingredients, go to Dietary Q&A;
Award Highlights
GOLD MEDAL - Australian Christmas Assortment MONDE SELECTION, BELGIUM 1999
CHAMPION CHOCOLATE - SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW 1995 & 1997
GOLD AWARD - Class 66 Chocolate Selection SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW 1997
GOLD AWARD - Class 67 Milk Chocolate Assortment SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW 1996
GOLD AWARD - Class 69 Milk Chocolate Assortment SYDNEY ROYAL EASTER SHOW 1995
FINALIST - BEST NEW FOOD SERVICE PRODUCT AWARD - BRISBANE FINE FOOD 1994
Where does the name "Mayfield" come from?
THE SHORT ANSWER:
The name has been associated with the family of one of the founders in Australia, for four generations.
THE LONG ANSWER:
On the subject of a brand name, our philosophy has always been that whatever the name, customers would gradually attach their own meaning to it as they experienced its products and services. The main job initially was not to pick a dud name which would make this hard. To achieve this, several criteria were adopted in selecting a new brand name. The name had to:
not have connotations which might be negative, or relate to another brand in the same field
be uncomplicated, and easy to pronounce and remember, and
if possible, carry connotations which were positive.
Mayfield satisfied the three criteria. In relation to the last, the very word could be construed as connoting the countryside, which was consistent with our goal of featuring flavours of Australia and real ingredients. Also, as it turned out, some people confuse it with "Mayfair", which has traditionally had a connotation of superior quality.
The name Mayfield has been associated with the Ingall family in Australia for generations. During the 19th century, Robert Ingall migrated from Great Britain to Newcastle N.S.W. where he secured land in the vicinity. This land was named Mayfield. Late in the 19th century, he sold the land to Broken Hill Proprietary Co (BHP) which built and operated a large steel mill there for the duration of the 20th century. The family house situated on the land at the time still stands, evidently having been used as a manager's residence for the duration.
Before that sale, Edwin Ingall was born in Mayfield. Eddie later served in the Third Battalion AIF during the First World War. He saw front line action in Gallipoli, France and Belgium. Like all Australian service personnel in that war, he was a volunteer. In 1916, he was wounded (not for the first time) at Hermies, near Ypres and subsequently discharged from the army.
One of Edwin's sons, Walter Ingall, served in the Australian Army for seven years during and after the Second World War, though without seeing action. This child of the Depression era did however save hard during his military service. In 1959, after some early business successes, Wal bought part of what had been the early settler and benefactor Caroline Chisholm's estate from Sam Hordern (of the Anthony Hordern's Sydney department store family), south west of Sydney. Wal and his wife Elaine decided to name the 728.5 acre property and family home "Mayfield Park". The land was sold in the 1980's after governments increased the minimum subdivision zoning from 5 acres at the time of purchase, to 250 acres (100 hectares), for the purposes of "scenic protection". No offer of resumption, or of compensation, was ever made by the NSW Government in return for the dramatic loss of value in the land caused by the adverse rezoning. Accordingly, Wal was forced to sell Mayfield Park, in difficult circumstances.
Peter Ingall, one of Wal's children, grew up at Mayfield Park. Thus the name Mayfield, having been associated with the family for several generations, and not currently being in use in the early 1990's, suggested itself as a suitable candidate. As it met all three selection criteria, it was in the end an obvious choice for the new brand.