Not every business can claim that their product is so popular they've had to call in the police to keep crowds of shoppers at bay.

The Seriously Good Chocolate Company can. It was showing its wares at a food fair just outside of Shanghai last year when they had to call the police because of the frenzied crowds.

Jane Stanton, jovial and fast-talking, founded this intriguing company in 2000.

Life at the company is not without irony; Stanton is a diabetic and their shop sits below Weight Watchers. "It's fair to say we've become quite an icon here," she laughs.

How did it begin? Stanton made some chocolates for a hairdresser friend who handed them to clients, who then began ringing her asking for more - perhaps not quite the Shanghai frenzy, but, well, desperate. The rest is history.

The company's mission is to tell the story of New Zealand through chocolate, and it's doing it in a quirky, creative way.

It makes freeze-dried boysenberries dipped in chocolate, called sheep poo, for Back Country Cuisine, who supply food to NZ soldiers based overseas.

It supplies chocolate based on wine from two Central Otago vineyards owned by actor Sam Neil to Kiwifruits, a London-based store. In bluff oyster season, it produces chocolate with sauvignon blanc and cinnamon.

Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt has been a huge support to the company and often joins them at food shows.

The business has really kicked off since her old high school friend Cecilia Tarrant - a former senior investment banker in Europe - and private investor Geoff Spong have come on board as advisers.

The company is about to move in to a new purpose-built factory and has secured a large order from Hong Kong.

Stanton trained in Melbourne at the renowned chocolate-making school, Savour. "Maybe one day we'll have a school here."

Stanton's other big dream is to make Invercargill one of the main foodie destinations in the country. It has a plethora of great producers, including the Invercargill Brewery and Blue River Cheese

 It wants to export to more countries and open a couple of stores around the country, but Stanton is adamant she'd never sell the business - for that would be giving away the secret not only to the chocolate, but the reason behind the frenzied crowds.

- © Fairfax NZ News