In the wake of multiple complaints to the Commerce Commission, Potter Brothers has updated its website but is yet to publicly state if allegations that its ‘handmade’ lollies repurpose mass-produced confectionery are true.

The small chocolate company accused of misleading customers with its packaging has quietly removed references to its products being “handmade” from its website. 

The Spinoff reported last week that Potter Brothers, an independent confectionery brand based in Levin, had allegedly been repurposing commercially made products and calling them “handmade” or “handcrafted”. The most widely circulated claim, shared by social media users, was that the company’s range of “pineapple chews” were made using pineapple lumps or chunks, a product commonly associated with Pascall or Rainbow Confectionery. Customers had reported peeling away an outer layer of chocolate to find the distinctive appearance of a mass-produced pineapple lump underneath.

Despite the story being widely reported, Potter Brothers is yet to comment. The Spinoff has made numerous approaches to the company which have been left unanswered, as have subsequent requests by RNZ and 1News.

However, in a short post shared on Facebook last week, the company promised to respond to concerns in the near future – blaming a busy manufacturing schedule for the delay. The comments were accompanied by a video of Easter eggs being made in their factory.

“Hey internet we hear ya!” the post, their first on Facebook since April 2020, read. “We’re a tiny biz that started with a crockpot and a dream. Right now our #1 priority is our tiny team who are putting in mega hours to make all our Easter eggs – we’ll post a response as soon as we humanly can but we’re up to our necks in marshmallow right now.”

The post concluded with the hashtags #smallbusinesslife #didntknowweweregettingcancelled  #noPRdepartment and #sendhelp.

The same message was also shared to Instagram – the first ever post on the company’s page.

Potter Brothers has received multiple negative Google reviews in the days since The Spinoff’s report, though some appear to have been deleted over the weekend. The company quickly dropped from 4.4 stars to below 3.0 stars, before rising back up to 3.6 stars at the time of writing.

But while the company hasn’t formally issued a response, it has quietly made changes to its website that appear to acknowledge the concerns raised. Until last week, a large message stating that Potter Brothers’ products were “handmade” greeted visitors to the company’s homepage. The “about” section, meanwhile, proclaimed that the company believed “in the importance of handcrafted quality”. 

Some time in the past few days, however, Potter Brothers changed its website to describe the company’s products as “small batch”. It’s now stated that the company believes in the importance of “quality” – with no mention of that quality being handcrafted. Potter Brothers also appears to have addressed the claim it is using mass-produced products. The “about” section now reads: “We are proud to bring you an outstanding selection of Kiwi classics covered in our creamy chocolate.”

The company had previously updated its packaging to replace mentions of “handmade” with “small batch” – but “handmade” continued to appear on the website in multiple places.

Meanwhile, a source with connections to Potter Brothers, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Spinoff that several years ago he had called one of the company’s co-founders and raised his concerns about the products. “I said ‘I just want to know if these are pineapple lumps underneath your chocolates’ and [the co-founder] said ‘it’s commercially sensitive’. 

“We talked for about half an hour and we got nowhere.”

The source suggested it wasn’t just Potter Brothers’ pineapple chews that were made with other company’s products, claiming the “soft gummies in milk chocolate” used “the old-school jellies” made by Rainbow Confectionery. “They’re definitely just the cheap ones,” he said. 

The Spinoff peeled off the chocolate from one of the soft gummies and found a lolly that appeared identical to the boysenberry and cream gummy produced by the Rainbow Confectionery company. There is no mention of Rainbow Confectionery on Potter Brothers’ packaging. 

The Spinoff’s source said he had previously contacted Rainbow and been told the company was aware its products were being used. “I called the CEO of Rainbow… and asked him about it. He said ‘yes they’re definitely doing it but there are no laws around it’.” 

On being approached by The Spinoff, the general manager of Rainbow Confectionery, Brent Baillie, said he could not comment and suggested we find “other sources”.

Since The Spinoff’s report last week, the Commerce Commission has received three complaints alleging Potter Brothers has made misleading claims about its products. A spokesperson said the commission was assessing the information provided and deciding whether to investigate the company, adding that any misleading branding could be a law breach.

“Our assessment looks at the nature of allegations and whether they potentially raise a concern under the Fair Trading Act,” said Vanessa Horne, the commission’s general manager of fair trading.

Get in touch: stewart@thespinoff.co.nz