Sweet's Candy Factory Tour

Who likes CANDY?

ME, ME, ME,ME, MEEEEEEEEEEE!!

Yesterday, I got to go to Sweet's Candy Factory and take a tour of how they make their delectable treats.

Sweet's is most famous for their Salt Water Taffy.  They ship it all over the country.  I saw lots of pallets wrapped and ready to be sent to.... Wal-Mart!  Located in cities I never heard of before...

I was not able to take pictures inside the factory because it was strictly prohibited.  Upon entering the facility, all jewelry, watches, phones, jackets, cameras, etc. were confiscated and stored for retrieval after the tour.  We even got to wear some really sexy blue hairnets!  Again, I don't have a picture for your viewing pleasure.  If I had a beard, I could have gotten to wear a beard net too!  They kind of reminded me of the masks you see dentists wear.  Bummer.  I really wanted one...

Some interesting facts I learned on the tour:

1.  Sweet's uses 75,000 pounds of sugar every 4 days.  

That equals 3.9 million pounds of sugar each year!  

No wonder dentists stay in business...

2.  The shipping area is kept at a balmy 68 degrees because it's the perfect temperature for both the sugar candy and chocolate candy.  It looks like a Costco warehouse in there, but filled completely with candy.  The entire inventory is moved out every 30-40 days.

3.  Sweet's produces about 60,000 pounds of salt water taffy every 4 hours.  Eat that!!!

4.  Sweet's most popular candy is their salt water taffy.  

Can you guess the most popular flavor?  

Peppermint!

5.  Sweet's produces over 250 different types of candies, including about 50 flavors of salt water taffy.  (I'm kind of guessing on some of these figures since I could only take mental notes during the tour).

6.  Jelly candies are cooled in molds filled with corn starch.  Random, maybe, but it makes them not stick to the molds or each other, nor does it alter the flavor!  

Pretty smart!!!

My favorite parts:

1.  During the tour, I got to taste test the quality of some of the candies.  

YUM!!!  

I think I need a tour every day...

2.  The tubes running across the ceilings labeled: chocolate, hot water, and corn syrup.  

I wonder if they tap into that when they get too cold and make hot chocolate?

3.  Picking one of every flavor taffy from the bins:  buttered popcorn, smores, 

coconut key lime pie, huckleberry, cherry Coke, just to name a few...

Question of the Day:

If you were stranded in a candy factory with only candy as a resource, how would you escape?  

(No repeat ideas allowed!)

Me:

Well, I would take a whole bunch of licorice ropes and tie them together.  Then I would mold a grappling hook out of chocolate.  I would throw that hook through the window, allowing it to hook onto the window sill like Indiana Jones, then climb up the licorice rope and swing out the window to safety below.  Then I would have to eat the evidence...  

Mwahahahahahahahahah!