After 31 days and half a tonne of chocolate, Porirua’s ChoctoberFest has come and gone for another year, leaving satisfied customers and a welcome boost to the city’s economy.

The festival, now in its third year, partners with much-loved chocolate-maker Whittaker’s. This year 20 cafes, eateries and bars took part, with more than 13,000 baked treats and drinks snapped up by customers over the month of October. Sales of these items alone saw $131,000 being pumped into Porirua’s economy, as well as additional spends at the participating businesses, and others around the city.

Customers could choose to rate the products on offer and in all, 4266 ratings were made. Taking top honours with the highest ratings, were Peppermill Café’s JellyTastic Shake in the drink category and Urban Bake House’s The Urban Crookie in the baking section.

Coming in second and third for their drink creations were The Karaage Kid and The Regal Shortbread Co, while Peppermill Café and Regal Shortbread Co were silver and bronze on the podium for their baking.

All businesses involved in ChoctoberFest reported a significant increase in sales, and foot traffic.

Urban Bake House’s Matt Greenham said ChoctoberFest led to an overall spike in sales revenue as new customers came through their doors throughout the month.

"Staff engagement was riding high, the bakery was abuzz! We couldn’t be happier with the way it all went," he said.

Georgia Hibbert from the Peppermill Café said the festival had been a huge hit for them.

"It was incredible seeing new faces in our cafe, some who had travelled into Porirua, just to try our offerings! We even had a lovely lady choose to spend her 80th birthday here, so she could have a JellyTastic Shake," she said.

Meanwhile, more than 3000 people entered the competition to win a Whittaker’s factory tour. Whittaker’s CEO James Ardern said they were rapt to be part of the month-long chocolate celebration.

"This year’s ChoctoberFest has been a great opportunity to support local businesses at a challenging time. Whittaker’s is proud to be part of this community and to continue to support this annual event, and we have loved experiencing all the creative uses of Whittaker’s Chocolate!"

Porirua mayor Anita Baker says the now-annual festival highlighted the city’s creativity and constantly expanding roster of places to eat and drink.

"We are a thriving destination now for people to come and enjoy hospitality, with so many options available to try.

"ChoctoberFest is just one of the ways the city can support local businesses, and it was outstanding to see so many visitors to our city, as well as locals enjoying the venues in their own city."

While 2229 of the 4266 votes cast in ChoctoberFest were from Porirua, 717 were from Wellington, 163 from the Hutt Valley and 88 from Kāpiti, showing the promotion attracted people from around the region. Other visitors were from further afield, including Auckland, Christchurch, Waikato and Taranaki, and a handful from the USA, UK and Australia.

By the numbers:

Participating businesses: 20

Drinks on offer: 19

Bakes on offer: 10

Drinks sold: 9225

Bakes sold: 4253

Amount of Whittaker’s chocolate used: approx. 500kg (half a tonne!)

Total spent on ChoctoberFest items alone (not other spend in the businesses): $131,000

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