SWEET SUCCESS

Stretching five stories up into the expansive skyline, the Junee Licorice & Chocolate Factory is a simultaneously imposing and inviting sight. The factory’s own Willy Wonka, Neil Druce, is a man with big ideas, dubious health advice and a deep connection to the community. 

“I think the whole health food thing is a bit crazy,” says Neil Druce, with a smirk. “What you have to stay away from is kale and lettuce – and eat more fats and sugar. Your brain works on sugar!” 

And so does a licorice and chocolate factory. Big ideas run in Neil’s family. His forward-thinking father converted the family’s Ardlethan wheat farm to organic in 1962 and years later, a young Neil had the idea of producing licorice from the farm’s wheat and spelt. 

“Initially, we had a contractor making the licorice based on an oldfashioned recipe that we sent them,” Neil recounts. “When they shut down we took over the production ourselves.” 

In 1998, Neil purchased the historically rich Junee Flour Mill and began producing licorice in 2001, adding chocolate to the mix two years later. Not wanting to waste the beauty of the factory, he transformed it into a tourist attraction. 

“We had 6000 people attend our official opening event,” Neil says. “You couldn’t park within two kilometres and customers were lined up for 20 metres just to get to the chocolate counters. 

When we started this, I was very excited because I love tourism. I also like restoring old things and had always wanted to develop a community hub where we could host cultural events and serve great food. I love all that kind of stuff.” 

Factory tours, which allowed people to watch the production of licorice and chocolate and learn the flour mill’s history, proved so popular that an on-site café was born. 

“We started doing coffee then gradually moved onto a little bit of food to service the tour groups,” Neil says. “The café grew when we realised that people were standing and waiting to get seats. 

I think the fact that it’s a café in a flour mill in a fully operational chocolate factory makes it extra appealing!” 

Neil and Coral Druce raised their three children on the third and fourth floors of the factory, looking out over the township of Junee. For the family, the business has been all-encompassing – a ‘tough slog’ but one that has enriched all their lives.

 “In all reality, business is an adventure that you begin with an understanding that, initially, you’re going to go without,” Neil explains. “You don’t live affluently but you live richly in what you’re learning. All three of our kids have been given the choice to work here but we’ve encouraged them to go off and try other things first. They’ve all returned to work in the business in some capacity, which is nice.”