Food factory tours

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larry_stewart

Master Chef
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Dec 25, 2006
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One thing I love doing when I go away is to go on factory tours. Since this is a cooking forum, ill limit it to food related things. Ill list the ones I went on and their location. Just curious food related tours anyone else has gone on and where they are located.

Anderson Pretzels in Pennsylvania ( not sure they offer the tour anymore or if it even still exists)

Snyders Pretzels, Pennsylvania. They actually gave our family a private tour which was nice

Herr's - Pennsyvania ( also located near QVC tour). Herrs was one of the bst tours we went on. The smell of the dough for the pretzels was so intense, I didnt even want to leave that room. I could have stayed there all day smelling the pretzels.

Ben and Jerry's Ice cream - Vermont, Touristy, But who can pass up and Ice cream tour.

Cabot cheese - Vermont. Nice cheese store and samples at the end of the tour.

Hershey's - Pennsylvania. More like a disney ride than a tour, but they just redid it, and its entertaining.

Cape Cod Potato chips - Mass.

Hebert's Candy - Mass. Very up close and personal tour. Had to wear hair nets on the tour.

Phillips Mushrooms, Pennsylvania- Not sure it is offered anymore, but years ago had a mushroom museum there. WE became life time members. Unfortunately the museum didnt last a lifetime, although while down there saw a place advertised as " the mushroom cap" which seemed similar.

Catapano Dairy Goat farm- Easter Long Island NY. See the goats on the outside, and the cheese production on the inside.

Multiple wineries on he east end of long island

Anyone else have any food tour experiences ??
 
What I can think of is Becker Farms, Roseland, NJ, when I was like 8-10. We got to walk the barn, milk the cows and see the "cooler" room. We already knew and lived all this, but they also had an operational mini train on real rails that toured their many acres. At the end, we got fresh, whole, unprocessed milk - we bought, and free samples of chocolate milk.
We also visited Amish & Menonite Pa. farms. I think we stayed 1 week each. I remember Amish being a tough week, but menonite not so bad. No specific details though. But great kid experiences.

What a great idea. Especially families with children. They get to see beyond the surface.
I'll remember this next time travelling, to see the native industry.
 
Multiple wineries on he east end of long island

i dated a girl from huntington once, and boy, you ain't kidding!!!!

j/k. :)

oddly enough, the only factory tours that i've been to are beer and chocolate.

for beer: busch brewery in tampa, long trail in vermont, and guinness in dublin.

for chocolate: hershey's in lancaster
 
I remember back in elementary school touring the Wonder bread factory.
Got a neat hat and some other stuff and a little loaf of bread.
I remember that bread as the absolute BEST I have ever had.

Since then... just a couple breweries, darn it.
It all revolves around yeast, LOL!
 
I've toured wineries and vineyards in northern CA. Also a mini chocolate factory.

Not to mention all the factory tours I've seen on Unwrapped and other Food Network shows.
 
I've been to the Hershey's chocolate factory. I seem to recall a school trip way back when to the Wonderbread plant.
 
Tillamook Cheese factory in Tillamook, Oregon. You can see the entire process & taste everything from curds, cheese, & ice cream. Huge gift shop.
Sees Candies in Culver City, CA. tasty & interesting.
Healdsburg Bakery, Healdsburg, CA. We had a private tour and still joke about the 'mother yeast' from which all of the sourdough bread begins.
When I was a kid in elementary, Helms Bakery in Los Angeles, CA. they gave us a small loaf of bread. I don't believe they are around anymore.
 
I have never taken any factory tours... but would love too! I know we have several factorys located here in Texas that I should take advantage of.
 
When hubby and I were on the road, food tours were of primary interest. We went to:
Ostrich and Emu farms
Cattle ranches (King in TX, Parker in HI)
Jelly bean factory
Numerous wineries and breweries across the USA
The Home of SPAM, the home of Kool-aid (no tours of factories, but towns proud of their heritage)
Sake (brewery or distillery, not sure of the correct terminology)
Rice (Konriko)
Tabasco
More cheese makers than I can count

I'm a firm believer, from the early days of my childhood (when I was taken on tours of a massive bakery, and one of a place that made chee-tos) that we should know from where we get our sustenance. This is a fun way of doing it.
 
I've been to Busch Brewery in Williamsburg, VA, Sunshine cookie factory in Cleveland OH, Hershey's in PA, and a chocolate factory in Vegas (It's run by a branch of the Mars family but can't remember the name right now.) Cheese factory in Middlefield OH. I remeber going to a produce farm as a child and watching them harvest celery with my grandparents. They were farmers so I knew the basics of growing food but the scale of the celery farm was massive. I also remember Grandpa having milk cows and he had a pasteruization room. The big shiney stainless steel tanks were fascinating and the milk tasted so good! He would give me a tin cup of warm milk from the tanks before filling the milkcans for the dairy to pick up. I was totally afraid of the cows but remember standing in the doorway to the barn watching the milking machines. I have a picture of me and Grandpa with a cow being milked and you can see me leaning as far away from that cow as could!
 
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