FruChocs Shop McLaren Vale

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Posted 2015-08-05 by The wanderer ⇒ follow

Enjoyed worldwide, cacao dates back to ancient Maya and Aztec, civilisations. Back in those days, this creamy and unique substance was only to be consumed by noble class, priests and emperors.

Lucky for the rest of us who are not royalty, a few passionate and unstoppable people around the globe worked day and night, combining ingredients, adding sugars, liqueurs and nuts to this rich dark powder, making it the ultimate symbol of decadence and a delicious treat!

FruChocs history dates back to 1850 when Johan and Magdalena Menz had a grocery and baking business on Wakefield Street in Adelaide City. They then purchased some confectionery machinery and started producing the popular Crown Mints in 1948 - the FruChoc (dried fruit coated in chocolate) was born, becoming a popular treat.

Menz FruChocs has maintained such quality and demand through the years that in 2005 it was named by the National Trust, an official "Icon of South Australia".

What started as a little family business and perhaps a distant dream, has now become a chocolate and lollies empire.
Menz now produces honeycomb, several types of dried and candied fruit enrobed in white, dark or milk chocolate, jelly snakes, chocolate coated nuts, jelly beans, liquorice and fudges just to name a few!

FruChocs has now 3 main locations across Adelaide Hahndorf, McLaren Vale and Glynde.

I haven't been so lucky to visit all of them, but I can tell you FruChocs McLaren Vale has something very special on show -
the world's biggest lolly mural! Milk bottles, bananas, fruchocs, mints, raspberry bullets and many other sweets form swirls and shapes, creating textures and vibrant colour to this work of art, which of course is placed behind a window - in case anyone eats the display!

FruChocs at McLaren Vale offers all the classic favourites as well as more recent delicious creations. You will be not only drooling the entire time, but also very interested in the equipment on display; a chocolate enrobing machine (basically a chocolate conveyor waterfall), a cellophane wrapper and other interesting pieces of technology for mass production of this delicious treat.

The staff are very welcoming and friendly. You can ask them about the machines, the chocolate or the tastings (let's not lie to ourselves here, we have all eaten chocolate at some stage in our lives, but when someone offers a chocolate tasting we are suddenly hermits who have never tried this before, so of course, we must have a sample).

Keep this tradition alive, support this local business and State's icon by visiting, sampling and purchasing some of these delicious treats. You might not be royalty, but eating a FruChoc is pretty close to it!