I work at a chocolate factory. AMA.

What happens to all the naughty children that get stuck in the pipes, fall into the garbage furnace, filled like a balloon with blueberry juice, etc.?

Erm, I think they become permanent employees. Ive seen some workers there that are plump enough to look like violet in that one scene.

How much do you get to take home? Have you gotten sick of any of the products?

You can't take any of the chocolate home with you because a security booth prevents that. I've grown a bitter taste for the Ferrero Rocher products. Mainly because we manufacture great amounts of them that we always have extra in our lunchrooms. But we do get annual gift baskets with all sorts of Ferrero-based products with all sorts of chocolates most people never have even heard of.

Why would they manufacture "rare" candies that most people have never heard of? Is there some very specific consumer group that eats them?

Do you get any kind of employee discount?

If you're american, you can get all sorts of rare flavors of tic-tac's that only some or no countries have availability to. Ferrero produces specific italian products such as Supercrema, kinder cereali, ferrero duplo, etc. all because they are originated from Italy.

Since I saw Nutella in the description, and now all the yummy Italian candies you just listed, I'm confused: do you work in the US or Italy? Or somewhere else..?

I see most of the Nutella jars sold here in the southern US have their manufacturing place listed in Canada. I can't still decide how much difference there is with the real, fresh, Italian made Nutella and the Canadian one, but I guess if I had to make my pick between a US or Canadian made, it'd be the Canadian. No HFCS for me thanks. Makes it sometimes really hard to find a US made chocolate (at least 70% chocolate) that would not list HFCS or corn syrup in them, so I usually end up getting European chocolates...

What are your favorite candies and chocolate? Including the rare ones in other countries.

Can someone PLEASE do something to change the stupid law that bans importing Kinder eggs to US? Those are the only real Easter candy especially for anyone who grew up in Europe...

Yes, I work in the Canadian facility. We mainly resell nutella to the US as our biggest export. Our nutella is rumored to have less sugar and more flavor in comparison to the states. Some stories tell that US manufactured nutella can have a sugar content as high as 50% which is bogus. Probably the rarest chocolate i've had is the Ferrero Küsschen. Its only available in Germany to my knowledge. I actually only found out recently that this whole Kinder Egg ban is causing people to smuggle in large quantities of kinder eggs to the near 50,000's. So if you want the chocolate that badly you can get it. You just need the hook-up haha.

Does your company employ creepy orange singing little people?

Ferrero employs a lot of Irish folk.

Have you ever been forced to pack fudge?

I'm not a fudge-packer.

But did you ever have to do it? Like, your boss tells you "Pack my fudge or you're fired."

I'LL SUE YOU.

Do you consider white chocolate to be real chocolate?

Of course.

... do you ever get to take home free Nutella, or do you get a discount?

Also, do you ever come home smelling like your products (which probably smell really good)?

We can't take home free jars of nutella, but they do sell some of their product every couple of months or so to the employees. If I work in the Tic-tac department I usually come home smelling like the sugar water they use in the sweetening phase.

Do you get to buy at a discount?

unfortunately not.

In all seriousness, what's it like making Nutella? I heard there's like 1000 hazelnuts in a jar. Is that true?

Messy. There's too many hazelnuts that go into the shredder to count, but it's definetly up there.

I've heard "There is a limit to the amount of insect legs that can be allowed in commercial chocolate. That limit is not zero." Any truth to this?

I wouldn't know the exact answer since all types of the chocolate are made around the world. But if you want to be optimistic (and grossed out) the number is probably somewhere around 5-10 and the slight chance of finding around 2 rodent hairs is possible.

How much chocolate do you eat on a regular basis?

I eat alot of nutella.

What is the best and worst thing about working in a chocolate factory?

Free chocolate in the lunchroom is always nice. The worst thing is probably the amount of walking distance it takes to get from one side of the facility to the other. Other than that it's been probably one of the better jobs i've had.

How long ahead do you do seasonal stuff (Easter, Christmas, Valentine)?
Basically: how old is the chocolate we eat?

We start Christmas in June. The chocolate isn't old at all to even notice. It stays cool and dry so it lasts longer through production.

do you get to eat the chocolate?

Only if it's broken box policy.

Does the box ever "accidently" break?

"'maybe."

How often do you spit and/or eject bodily fluids into the chocolate you make?

and/or eject bodily fluids into the chocolate

You couldn't have phrased that in a more grotesque way. But to answer your question, not at all.

are they really putting air into the chocolate to increase profits?

Absolutely not. You get what you pay for when it comes to Ferrero chocolates.

What is the temperature in the chocolate factory?

Usually around 16.2° C on a good day.

How do you feel about the smell of the chocolate factory?

At first it smells great. After a few months or so it becomes a bit bothersome, but then you get over it.

A few questions:

• How did you get to work in so many different departments?
• If you're comfortable answering, what's your salary?
• What's your favorite product?
• Are there any safety/hygiene/quality control features that might amaze a layman?

Thank you!

*I get assigned to work in departments just because they know that I can do it. Most work is all similar line production so it's not rare to be transferred throughout the plant. *For what I do, it pays well. Plus I am young so it's all savings for me. *Kinder Bueno. It's too bad we don't get it here in north america. (At least not to my knowledge.) *You have to wash your hands twice before entering the floor. Also if anything hits the floor, its automatically garbage. Seems like a waste but this is coming from a guy who spilled 96 kinder eggs on the floor once.

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WHERE?!? I've been searching near and far and haven't found a market that sells it.

Do you have a lot of overweight co-workers?

There's quite a bit.

Has anything in the factory ever gone horribly wrong?

One day I was coming in for my shift and people were saying that there was bugs in the nutella system. I was shocked because I had never seen a single bug since I started working there. It created mass confusion between all the workers there as rumors spread like wildfire. It turns out that they used the term 'bug' loosely to represent a 'glitch' in the computers of the machines. Ever since that happened no one has used the term bug again.

How does a candy factory keep the bugs away, in such way that the pesticides don't make it into the product?

There's hundreds of traps spread throughout the entire plant that attract bugs like flies, ants and even rats. Plus, the constant noise and activity running 24/7 keeps things like spiders from ever making homes. Its also pretty cold so all the bugs are wherever they go in the winter.

How long does it take for the raw material to come in and then produced into a product? What is your raw material? Cocoa beans or some sort of premade syrup? What do you do for quality control? About how much do you produce a day?

Thanks

Sometimes it can take months for packaging to arrive. I'm not a quality supervisor but i do know that we have a team that goes into our warehouse and marks skids based on adequate quality. The only real raw materials we receive is the ingredients for making the wafer inside of a Ferrero Rocher.

What is the most disgusting thing you've seen happen at the factory, and how often do employees eat the product while on the job?

It's not that the factory itself is gross, but some of the temps that work there do some pretty nasty things. I watch people cough into their hands and continue to work after doing so. Those people don't last very long as employee's fortunately.

Hopefully this AMA won't be like the Krispy Kreme one a few days ago...

I didnt get to reading that one. I read the peanut butter one although. So i was inspired to make this AMA.

Has anyone ever applied and on their first day of working or on the tour almost died from a nut allergy?

There's processes in registering that prevent such things from happening. But there was this one guy i used to work with who couldnt work with the Rocher's because of his acute allergies to hazelnuts. The one day he was forced to work on that line and his face swelled within an hour so he had to leave.

What is the most unusual concept product tested but never made for public release?

Halloween Kinder Eggs. I think they were trying to appeal to the toys making them more halloween themed. But in reality kinder eggs are expensive and can't be given out in large quantities.

Has anyone ever been fired for doing something gross to the chocolate? If so, what did they do?

This one girl puked on a skid of formplast plastic containers. Rumor was she was on Oxy 80's while coming to work. Never seen her again after that.

THEY KILLED HER?!

Oh my god, they might have...

How good is fresh chocolate straight off the line?

It depends what station your at, and what end of the factory you're in.

Where does the best and the worst chocolate come from.

Italy. It's all about personal preference.

In your opinion, what's the worst product your company has ever produced?

Cinnamon Tic-tac's. Man was I disappointed. I thought it would taste like actual cinnamon, not that burning cinnamon heart stuff.

I see you're a fellow Ent. Toke on my friend

Stay up.

What's the education required for that career? If I was willing to work there, would I require any past experience?

It sounds like a pretty awesome job.

There's all sorts of opportunities for careers there. They hire for such fields as Mechanics, Engineers, Quality Supervisors, Systems Technicians, Cleaning Services, etc. If you want to be a regular assembler it only takes a high school degree and to be 18+.

Do you have access to Ferrero Mon Cheri?

My wife had me bring her back a ton from Germany. Not sure if they are sold in the US.

I think it comes in the Christmas Gift Bags, but i'm almost certain they aren't for resale in the US or Canada.

What benefits do you receive? (If there's any besides the ones you already mentioned)

Workman's comp. That's about it.

Wait, you said you were in a Canadian facility. Which province (may I ask?), and what about the federally mandated "benefits" we have to be offered/given?

There's two Canadian facilities in Ontario alone but they are the only one's in Canada. We also receive federal benefits if we make sure that we are all providing out own safety gear. WSIB does pretty good too.

Any strike action? What are the bosses like? What are the conditions like?

No strikes, people are payed well, and they're happy. New bosses happen all the time due to rotating shifts. The factory itself is generally very clean and maintained.

Roughly how much chocolate does the factory make in a day?

How often is a batch thrown out because of a mistake?

Idk exact figures. Batches of chocolate are either re-made or thrown in full skids all the time.

is your boss someone like willie wonka? or johnny depp himself?

Soo many Willy Wonka references, but no. I have new supervisors every week. Rotating shifts prevent you from even building a reputation with your line leads.

How many bugs are in my chocolate?

None. It's extremely difficult for any type of bug to live in the factory because of how much noise there is.