65 Degrees in December: A Trip to Ben & Jerry’s

By Michael Riegel - Guest Blogger

When we planned spending our school break vacation with my parents, we considered a warm weather location, but that required buying plane tickets at the most expensive time of the year. Having enjoyed a cold weather trip two years ago to the Poconos, we settled on a driving trip to Vermont for five – me, my wife Deborah, our daughter Sophie, and my parents.  Of course, no trip to northern Vermont can be considered without a stop at Ben & Jerry’s. We are no strangers to their offerings, and we’re pretty much willing to try anything in the ice cream food group at least once. As the trip approached, all five of us got excited for the various activities we had planned but based on the limited factory tour schedule erev Christmas (eve), we had to reconsider our departure time. Most food tours are worth getting up a little early for, right? So an ice cream tour would certainly be worth an early departure!

Waterbury VT is 360 miles from our home on Long Island and the last tour of the day was at 2:00. So we decided that a 7:30 a.m. departure (especially torturous for a 15 year old girl and her grandmother) would be in order. Let me say that everyone agreed that it was a worthy sacrifice. As it turned out, Deborah and I were very excited for the trip and getting to sample the ice cream and each of us was up by 4:30 a.m., though we independently tossed and turned for an hour before getting up, neither of us realizing the other was already awake.

As it turned out, traveling on December 24^th was an opportune choice.  We made it to Waterbury in what seemed like record time and arrived in time to catch the 12:45 tour but opted to take the 1:00 tour so we could have a lunch of, what else, but ice cream.  As we entered the visitors area we could already see the excitement of the other visitors and kids, both young and old.  The walk up to the building gives you plenty of chances for photo-ops with a Ben & Jerry’s Cowmobile and face cutouts.  On through the doors and the options increase.

We got our tickets ($4 for adults, $3 for seniors, free for kids under 12) and then proceeded to lunch.  I opted for a new flavor (New Belgium Salted Caramel Brown-ie Ale) that I thoroughly enjoyed and, as the only beer drinker in our group, meant I didn’t have to share.  To me, it did not have a tremendous hit of beer flavor but Deborah turned up her nose after one taste.  Deb chose Mint Chip and The Tonight Dough starring Jimmy Fallon, as she was committed to trying flavors she hadn’t tasted before. Sophie got the Mint Chip and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, and my Dad also got the Mint Chip.  I guess that makes us pretty committed Mint Chip family!  Their report was that the mint was not overly minty but that the chunks of dark chocolate were large and plentiful.  For a change of pace, my Mom went for Coconut 7-Layer Bar.  She is a big coconut fan, and really relished it.

After our scoops and browsing the artifacts and displays we headed to the tour.  Unfortunately, they shut the production lines down for the last two weeks of the year so they can perform maintenance but we got to see the movie about the founding of the company, a look at the equipment and a taste of ice cream.  The tour is replete with corny jokes about cows, ingredients and their products.  (Why do cows wear bells?  Because their horns don’t work.)

As tours go, you don’t get to see too much and it might be more interesting on a production day but the staff was very pleasant and answered a variety of questions about the company, the ice cream, and the focus on corporate social responsibility.  As we entered the tasting room, we were faced with a sign showing the flavor of the day – Broccoli Cheddar Chunk with Broccoli Ice Cream, Kidney Bean Chunks and a Cheddar Cheese Swirl.  Neither the kids or adults looked too pleased until our guide turned the sign and began handing out samples of Cherry Garcia.

Just to be up to date on the latest flavors, Half Baked is currently the Number 1 flavor, followed by Cherry Garcia, Cookie Dough, and Chocolate Fudge Brownie.  A swing through the gift shop gives you the opportunity for t-shirts, hats, magnets, mugs, glasses and more. As a bumper sticker found in the gift shop asked, “If it’s not fun, why do it?”  This tour was certainly fun – so do it!

Kashrus note: Ben & Jerry's is certified kosher by the Kof-K

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Website: http://www.benjerry.com/about-us/factory-tours
Location: Waterbury, VT

Affordability: $

Asher's Chocolate

There are three kinds of chocolate people:

1. The honest person who likes milk chocolate;
2. The snob who tells you milk chocolate is garbage and dark chocolate it the only chocolate worth eating; and
3. The anti-American types who prefer Cadbury or some other country's chocolate, like Switzerland.

As a real American, my preferred chocolate is, of course, milk chocolate. The gold standard for me has always been, and continues to be, Hershey's chocolate. No matter what people will tell you, it's the best chocolate for the taste and value. Other chocolates are good undoubtedly, but Hershey's never fails to satisfy the consumer.

Asher's Chocolate in Souderton, PA is a nice change for someone who appreciates chocolate. The milk chocolate is soft and creamy, the dark chocolate is firm but not bitter and the other "chocolates" (white and peanut butter) are delectably smooth. What makes Asher’s regionally famous are its chocolate covered pretzels and graham crackers—a perfect balance of sweet, salty and crunchy. But anyway, chocolate aside, there was a factory tour as well, of course.

 

The tour was a pretty simple tour, really not much of a tour at all actually. It was an observation corridor of two large rooms with mostly nothing to see but conveyor belts with blue covers obscuring our view of any actual candy. One belt, right next to the corridor’s window, was a full view of pretzels rolling under a milk chocolate waterfall, air dried and then under a second chocolate waterfall. This was without a doubt the highlight of the day. The kids easily watched the pretzels acquire their chocolate for 20 minutes before we headed back to candy store to purchase some chocolate.

 

The Asher’s factory candy store was, as you would imagine, packed with candy—Asher’s candies as well as some other brands. When we walked in, there was a tray full of different flavored nonpareils for sampling—it said to only take one, but I think we all went back a couple times for more since it took a while for the kids to decide what they wanted to buy as they were limited to only one thing (a difficult task in a candy store).

Overall we were very happy with what Asher’s had to offer at the store and on the “tour.” The store did have some things discounted and even sold broken chocolate covered pretzels which was a nice touch, but everything else was sold at retail prices. The variety was nice and they offered samples of anything you wanted to try.

It would have been nice if there had been someone to answer questions about the factory or even a pretzel to eat fresh off the line, but it’s clear this wasn’t a true factory tour; just a factory viewing.

One thing to note: The factory doesn’t run on Sundays, as much of central and eastern Pennsylvania doesn’t work on Sundays for religious reasons.

We knew what to expect of the factory going in, but there were still a few things that could have been done better, therefore this is a 3 out of 5 star experience. Compared to Hammond’s which provided an actual tour, a more personal video and gave things away, Asher’s left a bit to be desired. We spent less than an hour in the entire facility, so be sure to find other things to do in the area besides this factory if you are planning a trip there.

Kashrus note: Also, almost everything made in the factory is kosher and labeled as such. Be sure to check each product though.

Overall Rating: 3 our of 5 stars

Website: http://www.ashers.com/where-to-buy/

Location: Souderton, PA

Affordability: Free

Nearby Attractions: 35 minutes from Center City Philadelphia

Hammond's

Hammond's Candies are everywhere, but you may have missed them because you don't usually buy your candy at William Sonoma ($3 for a bar of flavored chocolate). As they continue expanding all over the country though, you'll likely see a lot more of them (apparently Target sells their candy now as well). The coolest part about Hammond's, by far, is how they make their product on site, by hand. The impressive operation is in the middle of dozens of warehouses in Denver and is easy to miss even though the building is easily identifiable with a giant lollipop on it.

Upon entering the factory you are welcomed in a spacious room with very little going on. It was surprising considering the factory store is the exact opposite with not an inch to move without a different candy asking you to give it a try. The room did however have the smell of a candy store--which of course instantly puts a smile on everyone's face. We were then provided a sticker for the next tour in ten minutes and hung out in the store until we were called.

As is common, we were presented a ten minute video of the history, background and current state of affairs of the company. The video was excellently produced and quite interesting--it featured actual employees including the company's energetic CEO which is always nice to see.

We then went to see the intimate factory. Factory though might be the wrong word for Hammond's since it was more of an industrial kitchen. Through a thin piece of glass with windows above into the kitchen, we could see everything happening inside--we stood 15 feet from three women pulling candy, rolling it, cutting it, twisting it into a lollipop, weighing it and finally "sticking" it! Very cool to see so close up. There were also two screens showing us other parts of the kitchen from above including some of the side rooms not included on the tour.

Two things make the Hammond's operation so impressive, as they tell you repeatedly--that everything is hand-made and that they use some of the same equipment as they've used for close to a century. The hand-made nature of the products is really cool to see, but it's hand-made to a fault in my opinion. For example, they had an employee putting different sized brittle into bags on a scale to achieve the appropriate number of ounces in the bag--that seemed extremely inefficient to me. Also, there was a person bagging and twist-tying each lollipop. I greatly respect their dedication to their employees and to their craft, but candy-making and candy-packaging are different.

The old equipment on the other hand, is just cool. It may not be the most efficient anymore, but it adds an endearing quality to the product that should not be minimized.

One unique element of the tour is that everyday they make something different in the kitchen. I'd love to go back again just to see, in person, how something else is made! It was a really unique factory experience to see that.

Then we were given broken candy canes and sent into the store. This was when the fun began. We must have said "that's too much" to each other a dozen times because we each wanted to get way too many things. For the reasons mentioned above though, the candy is not cheap, so we got a few things at retail price and then found ourselves in the broken or soon-to-expire section of the store. Between ourselves and gifts for the kids we spent close to $30, which sounds like a lot except that we got a lollipop for each kid in their favorite color/flavor, each of which was $2.50. There were also a number of things on "sale," which made them more reasonably priced. It should be noted though that although it was expensive, the product is of a higher quality than that of a typical candy store. As we checked out were told that since we spent more than $20 we received an additional bag of candy cane coffee stirrers. This filled me with gluttonous appreciation--since we had spent beyond the average consumer, we were rewarded with more candy!

One critique, though relatively insignificant. I expected some new candy samples to encourage me to try something I might like, and potentially purchase. We were given broken candy canes, but that is hardly something unique to try. I think that would definitely have enhanced the experience.

Kashrus note: Everything made in the factory is certified kosher. The store however, carries things not made in the factory so be sure to check everything before purchasing or tasting.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Website: http://www.hammondscandies.com/factory-tours-parties

Location: Denver, CO

Affordability: Free

Nearby factories and attractions: Coors

US Mint

The US Mint is an interesting "factory" since money isn't really a product, per-se. It is produced though, somewhat controversially, according to different economic theories, but that's for a different blog. Since it is produced though, we feel our tour of the US Mint in Philadelphia deserves a post on this blog as well.

As a federal employee, I used my annual leave to take off the day after Thanksgiving trusting that the federal government would continue working without me. Sadly, the US Mint in Philadelphia was not running on the Friday after Thanksgiving. We found this to be ironic considering Black Friday is a day when millions of dollars are spent by Americans, but America isn't producing millions of dollars in currency...but I digress.

Although coins were not being minted that day, the self-guided tour was still open to the public, free of charge on Independence Mall. When we arrived, we immediately noticed a sign that adults need federal IDs to enter. While Meghann, the kids and some of our extended family sat outside the mint, I ran back to the car for my wife's ID since, "I didn't think I would need it" evidently is a sufficient excuse for leaving your purse in the car...but I digress.

When you walk into the mint you enter into a foyer, which really puts you into the gift shop ostensibly to spend the money you will soon learn how is made. The tour directed is to go to the third floor via the steps or the elevator in the back of the gift shop. It is normally in poor taste to force people through the gift shop to get to the start of the tour, but it's excusable since the building is likely older than the shop or the tour. But still, there was a down escalator, yet we were directed to use the stairs or (small) elevator to go up. Most escalator operators understand the role of the escalator--it literally means to go up! It's illogical, and contrary to common sense, to send people to stairs to go up and an escalator to go down...but I digress.

The tour itself was very well done, despite the lack of a formal tour guide, a facilitator or even a friendly employee to ask questions. The entire production floor was one long corridor that doubles back on itself teaching you all about how coins are produced and how the mint works. For a self-guided tour it was pleasantly engaging even for young children. There were coins to touch and a computer that let kids design their own quarters. Despite not seeing the actual production that day, there was still a lot to see and a lot to learn. On the second floor (escalator down!) you learn about how coins were minted in the colonial era which really helps you appreciate just how impressive the minting operation is today.

That said, there was a lot I felt was left out. There were several examples of specialty coins produced for occasions or in honor of someone or something, but not much detail. The space of the tour clearly limited the opportunity to learn more. Also, the minting experience is clearly prioritized over the numismatics--of which I would have preferred more.

The gift shop (escalator down!) had more for numismatists. It was more focused on the coins than the minting. Besides being exceptionally overpriced, it had everything you'd hope to see there including large novelty coins and collectible coins. Unfortunately though, you couldn't buy a coin minted on site--which was all a visitor would expect. I understand it can't be a free giveaway since it's a free tour and federal money, but I would have gladly paid for a fresh coin made on the premises. When I asked the cashier if coins were available he sent me to a coin crank machine and said that was the only option for a clean coin—pressed into a souvenir with a picture of the US Mint in Philadelphia…no thanks.

The overall experience at the US Mint was fine. Before visiting the mint, we played mini golf at Franklin Square, so the mint was one of two stops of the day. If you do plan to visit the US Mint in Philadelphia, be sure to visit the other sites on Independence Mall, like the Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center, Independence Hall and/or the National Museum of American Jewish History since the Mint itself will definitely not take more than an hour of your time.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars, with low expectations going in

Website: http://www.usmint.gov/mint_tours/?action=philadelphia

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Affordability: Free

Nearby factories and attractions: No other factories, but several Philadelphia tourist attractions (see above)