Yes, I think we found Willy Wonka’s Magical Chocolate Factory in Austria. Zotter’s Chocolate Factory lies about 1 hour east of Graz. Robert’s FH Joanneum colleague Franz Niederln and his wife Heidrum treated us to a day out on Saturday, 18 May.

They picked us up in their van along with Roger Ferguson, a GVSU colleague of Robert’s, who was still visiting, and took us to Zotter’s Chocolate Factory and Vulcano Hams.

Zotter’s was a wonderland! Not only was there the chocolate factory, but also a farm and edible garden with quirky statues throughout the grounds. We had fun meandering around the gardens and the farm. There were all kinds of animals from rabbits, llamas, to ostriches! Multiple areas had “danger” playground equipment, which meant of course our children were ecstatic to go and play!

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I personally liked the chocolate graveyard. There were full size headstones in brown and white to designate what kind of chocolate had been “laid to rest”. There were all kinds of interesting chocolate combinations including pig blood with ginger, or lemon and fish, and hazelnut and lettuce! There were even little candles in front of the buried chocolates. I asked a clerk and she said that the “not so good recipe ideas” or “retired” chocolates are actually buried under the stones!

Inside we took the factory tour and there was a wonderful video about how Zotter’s actually works with cacao famers in Peru and Ecuador to get the best Free Trade chocolate available. We were given a little ceramic serving spoon to try all the different chocolates they make. It was an endless ordeal with 200+ samples of chocolates, sauces, and fillings used in chocolates.

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After eating ourselves sick with yummy chocolate, we had a nice simple lunch and then spent the afternoon at Vulcano Hams, a local family run business. We took the tour about the history of  ham production in Austria and at the end they gave us free samples of the various ham and pork items made at the facility.

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