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