Learn how to make a chocolate bar, make a beggar with delicious dried fruit, or even a lollipop for the youngest… At the Alex Olivier chocolate factory, in Neuville-aux-Bois (Loiret), you can slip into the skin of a a chocolatier to discover all the secrets of cocoa! This company of 115 employees organizes immersion visits “in the heart of chocolate”, along an educational trail, with films, showcases, explanatory panels, tastings and a panoramic view of the factory where the chocolate makers are at work.
The chocolate factory, which had been opening its doors piecemeal for a long time, has decided to invest heavily in gourmet tourism. His project was thought up in 2017, but was stopped in 2018 by a fire that ravaged the factory, not to mention the two years of Covid that followed. “We reopened last June, with redesigned spaces and we have diversified by also organizing workshops with themes such as Carnival, Valentine’s Day or Easter”, explains Catherine Houvion, deputy director.
With this project, which mobilized approximately 100,000 euros of investment, the Alex Olivier chocolate factory aims to attract 10,000 visitors per year. “The public is our ambassador, it works well with word of mouth and social networks and it gives us notoriety”, adds the director. There are also more immediate economic benefits, because the visits, which are not free, inevitably end with the factory shop where visitors generally go crazy for a few delicacies!
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