Inside a candy/chocolate factory

Inside a Chocolate Factory from Adam Groffman on Vimeo.

Back in December I went on a whirlwind tour through a few of Germany’s chocolate and candy factories. Now I’ve got a sweet tooth as much as any other folk, but I tend to not go overboard when it comes to candies.

My tour, sponsored by German Sweets—a German government organization set up to promote candy & chocolate export from Germany—took me all over the country and into a variety of candy/sweet factories. I got to sample a cookie right off the conveyor belt (tasted just like one right out of an oven) and eat marzipan at each level of production—from when it’s just unsweetened almonds to the 100% pure almond paste to the chocolate covered Niederegger hearts.

Maybe it was my childhood illusion from too much Willy Wonka, but I had these fantastical dreams of what it’d be like inside a candy and chocolate factory. In reality, it was a very LOUD and sterile place. People in lab coats, giant silver machines and factory lines that seemed endless.

I visited about ten different candy factories throughout Germany. The video above includes footage from a bunch of different ones, but hopefully gives you an idea of what it’s like inside a candy factory! Here’s a hint: there aren’t any Oompa Loompas.

All the makings of a Hachez chocolate bar

Almonds before they get made into marzipan paste

Chocolate Easter eggs getting hand-filled on the inside with M&Ms (or Smarties)

And bam! The finished product—CHOCOLATE