Visiting a chocolate factory

Chocolate fountain - This is the chocolate fountain in the tasting room at Primola factory.
@elitess (5070)
Ipswich, England
March 15, 2011 1:06pm CST
I took my girlfriend and went today at Primola's chocolate factory. We witnessed the whole production process in about 1 hour, and we learned that the total process of producing chocolate takes about 30 hours, and the length of the band where chocolate goes from beginning to the end is about 5 km long. We also learned that the highest production of cocoa comes from the Ivory Coast, who has now some internal conflicts that affect it. Other producers are Brazil, Costa Rica etc. At the end in the hall where we got to see a cocoa fruit and learned that in the chocolate process the seeds are used only, and they have to be left to ferment for 1 week, we got to taste all their sentiments, and they had a chocolate fountain as well (i attached a photo for it). So my questions for you are: Have you ever visited a chocolate factory ? If not, would you like to? If yes, what have you learned there ? I am interested in learning more.
7 people like this
14 responses
@sender621 (14894)
• United States
16 Mar 11
I used to live in an area where HersheyPark was vailable to me. Whenever i went there, I would just have to visits Chocolate world there as well. Traveling through the Hershey chocolate factory would never get old. Just the smell of chocolate wss worth the trip!
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
16 Mar 11
Hello, you are the 2nd person mentioning the Hershey chocolate factory. I hear that it is also a park , so it is like the Chocolate factory in that old movie "Charlie and the chocolate factory ? :)
1 person likes this
@m2heart (80)
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
Hello Elitess :) I've never been in a chocolate factory. I wish to visit in some factories. I love chocolates and I find it interesting in making my own chocolate but I know it's hard process though :) Thanks for your info.
2 people like this
@williamjisir (22819)
• China
14 Oct 12
I have never had such a chance to visit a chocolate factory in our local place as we do not have one such factory, but we have some silk clothes factory. I have been to one of them. That was about seven years ago when I was invited to go together with one of my colleagues. It is a large factory with a lot of workers there. The workers there work with light music on. It was interesting to me, but soon I figured out that it was to help cheer up with their tiring work. Take care, elitess.
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
14 Oct 12
Call me Alex William ;) I have seen a silk worm cocoon at my grandmother, I wonder how interesting was to visit that factory and if you got to see lots of cocoons :)
@enruschew (247)
• Malaysia
15 Mar 11
Aww! Chocolate! I love it!!! Well, I never been to a chocolate factory before and do not know what are the processes to produce chocolate. If there's a chance to visit the chocolate factory, I'll likely to participate! Cool man, it must be a nice experience!
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
15 Mar 11
Hello friend. Try searching the chocolate factories in your city / country and check out if they are taking visitors (they just might) and give it a try. For us it was free, and we gained both knowledge and free chocolate in the process.
• United States
16 Mar 11
thats so cool!! hope you had a great time. was it fun? is it a hard process to make chocolate? if it was fun, cool, and not expensive i would love to try it! hope you both had a good time!
1 person likes this
16 Mar 11
no i havent but would love to. i love chocolate and it would be interesting to find out and to taste too
2 people like this
• Philippines
16 Mar 11
hello elitess, OH MY i would like to visit a chocolate factory and taste every chocolate there how i wish i can go to a chocolate factory one day. About the cocoa seeds we have here and i can harvest some when i am in the province but i don't know how to make it as a chocolate well i envy you for experiencing it . have a chocolatey day!
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
18 Mar 11
Hello bhaby Catch I can actually help you a bit here ! You have to take the cocoa fruits, break them open take the seads and put them for 1 week to ferment. After these, they take the seeds and use them to create the cocoa for the chocolate, so you can try them like this i think - you could add them in a blender if you have one, add some cocoa butter, partially desegregated powder milk (at least to be powder milk, you can use fresh, but it will get rotten within 1-2 days with no preservatives) and sugar. Those are the main ingredients - you can also add peanuts or raisins or some fruits depending on your taste. You will only get liquid chocolate, but you can let it in the fridge to get harder. Hope this helped, and REALLY, tell me the results if you try it. The info above is from what i learned at the factory :D
• Philippines
21 Mar 11
hello elitess, Thank for!but i think it is better if i will just buy a ready one , besides i don't have a time to make a chocolate i am bit busy i even don't have time to cook my own meal. Hope i can experience visiting a chocolate factory in the future and of course taste every chocolate i will see . Have a nice day!
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
19 Mar 11
This would be Fun to have the chance to tour a Chocolate factory like this. I am sure it was quite interesting to watch the process, and taste some of the final items made as well. I know when I had a chance to visit a Hershey store in NYC they were making some chocolate things there and it was interesting to watch but for me the overpowering smell of chocolate was overwhelming.
1 person likes this
• Canada
17 Mar 11
I have never visited a chocolate factory, but it sounds like it would be a really fun place to go. Did they give you free samples? YUMMY!
1 person likes this
@dragon54u (31636)
• United States
15 Mar 11
I looked up Primola and didn't learn much, their website is hard to navigate. It sounds like you had a really good time! I have never visited a chocolate factory but it would be interesting. We have several in my state and I should take the time to see how they make their confections. I might do that this summer.
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
15 Mar 11
I tried finding it's international site, but failed. You could send me the link if you like, i would appreciate that. The romanian site is specifically called " thechocolatefactory " but in romanian - and makes more sense :) Thanks for taking the time to drop by, and I do suggest to do so if you can, it was pretty fun to learn new things.
@cream97 (29087)
• United States
17 Mar 11
Hi. elitess. I am glad that you and your girlfriend was able to take a trip at the chocolate factory together. I know that this was a very exciting trip/tour for the both of you! I am sure that you two both had so much of fun together. I would love to visit one. I have always saw how many foods and goods were made. I have watched them on TV. It is so exciting to be able to see how everything that we use and have is being made. It is so much of fun to watch this process in action.
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
18 Mar 11
Hello cream. Other people from the USA mentioned the Hersey Factory and Park - maybe that is the option optimal for you, and from what i understand it is far more complex than what i visited. Check it out online and let me know if it is good for you :)
@bjcyrix (6901)
• Philippines
25 Mar 11
Wow! I soo envy you!^_^ I do wish to visit a chocolate factory someday. I'm curious as to how exactly they make a specific chocolate and how they process it that all the same raw materials become yummy different unique-tasting pieces of chocolate. That is indeed my DreamLand. Well, I also have a "secret" dream and it's being a Chocolatier. I would really wish to be one but I dont have the opportunity or the the means to. So I'm just currently content with enjoying those delectable pieces. Thanks for sharing your experience!^_^
@madteaparty (2748)
• Japan
16 Mar 11
I visited a chocolate factory last year, but I kind of forgot all the trivia we learned back them. I remember they had some toy real sized cocoa seeds, and I was surprised at how big are they in comparison with what I had imagined. Visiting a chocolate factory is interesting and fun. In my case I could sample some chocolate too, before being processed with all the sugar and stuff and after, and now I understand why do they need to process it so much.
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
18 Mar 11
Hello dear mad tea party. We were allowed to use different ingredients they had used in their sentiments and mix them on sticks and insert them in the chocolate fountain i have shared. We also got a bag of different chocolates to take home as a gift from them.
@sexyice (873)
• Latvia
15 Mar 11
Sounds wonderful.Latvian is not so great chocolate factory, a small and rather uninteresting. Your girlfriend certainly very happy ou and you can taste too. I really am very happy for you and maybe someday I will be able to be there. Have anice day!
1 person likes this
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
18 Mar 11
Hello sexy Ice. Maybe you have another type of factory nearby (or even in your country) that you could visit ? Just check it out via the internet and maybe you will find something. Thanks for replying here, Take care, Alex.
• United States
16 Mar 11
I have never visited a chocolate factory but would love to go to the Hershey factory. I hear it's an amusement park as well as a factory tour. mmmm freshley made chocolate would be great.
@elitess (5070)
• Ipswich, England
18 Mar 11
I can confirm you will enjoy it !