About Us
When you think about it, we’ve been very lucky at Ddesserts. After all, how many people get to spend 30 years coming up with mouth-watering creations in their own dessert factory? It’s been one incredible ride – endless experimentation, oodles of crazy ideas and a mountain of learning. Out of all that has emerged a range of the very best desserts in the market today. 100% Australian made using as many locally made ingredients as humanly possible. Call them delightfully delicious or devilishly decadent – as long as there are two ‘D’s involved, we’re happy.
The magic all happens here in Thornbury, Victoria, in our high-tech premises that incorporates world first CO2 technology. Yep, we’re doing our bit for the planet – instead of using nasty gases to power our refrigeration systems, we only use gas from carbon dioxide. It all involves complex science that’s way beyond most of us, but the long and short of it is that it’s way better than CFCs that eat up our ozone layer. We also capture the heat generated from our substantial cooling systems and harness this power to heat and cool our offices and storerooms. And the icing on the cake (pardon the dessert pun) is the array of solar panels on our roof that makes us look a bit like a spaceship from above!
So… we’re Green and we’re also Green and Gold – we love Australian ingredients! All of our milk and cream is home grown in Victoria, an area well known for it’s high quality dairy farming. We constantly strive for the maximum amount of locally produced ingredients – our Crème Caramel is made from over 90% Australian ingredients and our Chocolate Mousse and Strawberry Cheesecake both contain at least 70% Australian ingredients.
While we’re all about Australian ingredients, we recognise that searching for the best machinery may take us off-shore – and, because we’re committed to the best equipment to make the best desserts, we’ve had special pieces of machinery made just for us from Germany, Poland, England and Asia. Today, we’re almost a modern version of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory with conveyor belts, X-ray machines and pipes filled with melted chocolate zig zagging this way and that. As far as we can tell, no Oompa Loompa’s, but who knows what happens when the factory is running in the wee hours of the morning?
Meet our team
Everyone says their staff is their greatest asset. For us, it happens to be absolutely true. We are so lucky to have some of the best production, packing, warehouse, sales, product development and office people in Melbourne. We are all passionate about everything ‘dessert’ and all of us really care about the company and what we do which makes us very proud. Many of our dedicated staff begin their day before some of you have even gone to bed to keep our Ddesserts rolling out and on to a shelf near you.
David Rose - AKA ‘Willy Wonka’
David’s Ddesserts story began in 1986 when he became a part owner of a food manufacturing company that, at that time, produced a variety of savoury and sweet foods for restaurants across Melbourne. Although no sweet tooth himself (poor David, he doesn’t know what he’s missing out on!) his business savvy gave him the hunch that there was success to be had in the dairy dessert cabinet and he followed through. Although he may not partake in a Ddessert daily, they definitely run in his blood!
Libi Varghese – Production Powerhouse
Libi is the Sergeant Major of Ddessert production. With an eye that an eagle would be jealous of, he scrutinises every ingredient that goes into each Ddessert and at every stage of the process, from the melting of chocolate to final packaging. Libi has an intimate knowledge of our essential, non-organic production team (that would be our fancy machinery) and his dedication and expertise ensures that each Ddessert tastes as good the last and every one to come.
JF Veyssiere – Sales and Innovation* Manager
Yes that’s a French surname. JF has been with Ddesserts since it leapt off the drawing board. If David Rose is the captain of the Ddesserts ship, think of JF as the navigator. He steers the excellence of the product with the right combination of Gallic confidence and expertise to innovate our Ddesserts so that they are precisely on the edge of daring and delicious. JF will not stop until there is a Ddessert on a shelf near you, calling out to you to partake in moments of sweet escape.
*Warning: Unashamed use of buzzword here