‘I got a golden ticket!’ sang Charlie Bucket once upon a
time and to be honest I felt as if I had found such a prize in a bar of
chocolate after finding out I was going on a tour of the Thorntons Factory.
You know Thorntons, providing us with chocolate heaven
since way back in 1911. They opened their first store in Sheffield that year and
haven’t looked back since. Their shops and cafes are now a familiar sight on
our high streets.
A few of we food bloggers actually got ‘golden tickets’ and
the gathering consisted of myself, my friend Jac from ‘Tinned Tomatoes’ (who invited
me along on the trip), Janice from ‘Farmersgirl Kitchen’, Rachel Cotterill from
her self-titled blog and Becca from 'Amuse Your Bouche'. Thankfully there was no
Verruca Salt or Augustus Gloop joining us!
We were then on the next leg of our journey – off to meet
the others at Alfreton train station where we were picked up by taxi and taken
to the wonderful world of chocolate (and toffee!).
I loved their new Smiles advent calendar, full of chocolates
of course, which featured a dial system on the front. You had to rotate the
wheel to find the number on that day’s door. Sort of a Crystal Maze of calendars.
We walked down to the factory floor and saw Easter eggs
being made. Yep, Christmas productions finished a while ago and they are a few
months ahead of the game in Thorntons (although Easter eggs will probably be
on your shelves quite soon). Large arms swirled chocolate around the plastic
moulds ready to be popped out and packaged into festive Easter boxes.
There were pipes all around us, overhead, travelling down,
full of chocolate which they have brought in each day already tempered, ready
to use. We were let loose on a nougat casket – called a Continental Nougat Delight. We were each kindly allowed to pipe chocolate on top of a casket,
before filling it with chocolates. It was harder than it looked and mine was a bit skeewhiff, but you’ll be glad
to know I got to take this away with me so it won’t be hitting your shelves
anytime soon.
We were then walked through to a different area, where the
smell changed completely – from chocolate to toffee. We saw the Special Toffee
mixture getting blended in huge mixers ready to pour into trays waiting underneath
each bowl. A clever contraption is then rolled over the tops of trays pouring
the right amount of molten toffee into each one, ready to cool with big fans.
We then went into another room where the slabs of set toffee
were placed on an upward conveyer belt where they were then broken into pieces.
They travelled into a spinning tunnel which sorted out sizes of toffee. If they
were too big or too small they were no good and they got melted down to be used again. The pieces that did fit the bill
then get whisked off ready to be boxed and shipped off to Thorntons
stores.
We then went back over to the other building for a little
session on icing. We were each given a plaque and some bags of icing to
decorate them with. As you can see, I need way more practice.
To finish with John, the digital search manager, then told
us how Thorntons pride themselves on still having that personal touch.
Although the scale on which they operate now means a lot of things have to be
automated, they still have certain tasks which can only be done by hand. And
everything is done in house from graphic design, through to flavour development
and packaging.
We were then put up for the night in a very swish hotel The Derbyshire in South Normanton, quite close by. We all had a slap up meal before
I headed to my bed first, wuss that I am!
We flew back home the following day after a great
experience. The people at Thorntons were very friendly and generous and I
want to say a huge thanks to them. I will never go into my local Thorntons
shop now without thinking of the hard work that goes into making their tempting goodies.
Here are the other write-ups about the trip – so you can see
what I have forgotten!
Amuse Your Bouche - Cranberry and White Chocolate Skillet Cookie
Tinned Tomatoes - Inside Thorntons Chocolate Factory
Disclosure Statement. I have not been paid to write this
post. I attended the factory tour and received travel, accommodation and sustenance
gratis. I also received free goods from Thorntons. Any opinions expressed are
my own and are not endorsed in anyway by Thorntons. Factory photographs are provided
courtesy of Thorntons and used with their permission.
Looks like you had a fab time x
ReplyDeleteWe did Charlene - seems like a lifetime ago now!
DeleteI was invited on a similar visit to the Thortons factory a few years ago and had a wonderful experience too. Firstly, of course, the welcome is warm and genuine and all the staff were lovely. But I was also fascinated and genuinely surprised at the way that some tasks were still very much done by hand, even with all the clever machinery. We also got to taste items in the product development kitchen, which was sssh sssh but much fun. Looks like you had a great day too!
ReplyDeleteI agree Kavey, they were very genuine, jealous that you got to visit the development kitchen, that's the one thing we didn't do that I would have love to have experienced.
DeleteMe too! Would love to have seen how they try new flavours. And the graphics side of things too.
DeleteNo Oompah Loompahs? I know how you love orange! Looks like a fab trip, lots and of fun and informative... A golden opportunity right enough!
ReplyDeleteSadly no Oompah Loompahs Fan, but a great time nonetheless!
DeleteIt was so nice to meet you Stuart, hope to see you at another chocolate factory soon! ;)
ReplyDeleteYes, where can we descend on next? Great to meet you too Becca x
DeleteGreat write up, we did have a lot of fun and learned so much about chocolate and toffee makingl
ReplyDeleteLike you say Janice, a true through the Play School window moment.
DeleteBeard snood? So amazing. You all look like you had a great time - what a lovely treat!
ReplyDeleteIt was a special experience Kate, quite touched they allowed us in.
DeleteWhat a great insight into such a long standing british brand. Lucky you!
ReplyDeleteYep, very lucky Urvashi. Great to see behind the walls.
DeleteWhat a wonderful trip, especially in the run up to Christmas! Sounds like a big kid's dream come true!
ReplyDeleteHaha, you know me Vohn - a big kid!
Delete