Whilst the majority of our time here in Italy is to see family and enjoy a relaxing holiday, we could not come here without a visit to the Prisco factory, home to our amazing flavoured sugared almonds! My husband and kids were more than happy to be part of the “Willy Wonka style” adventure too, knowing that at some point during the visit there would be the chance to taste test and eat lots of delicious chocolate sweets!
So last week we set off on a road trip from Calabria and headed up to Naples which is where the factory is located. After settling in and meeting with the team, we hopped into some very trendy protective wear and off we went to get a first hand VIP look into the world of flavoured sugared almonds and how they are made. You won’t believe just how much attention to detail and precision goes into delivering nothing but the most perfect, highest quality products for our customers!
Let me take you through the process:
Firstly, almonds are selected based on their quality. That means you won’t just find any random almond in our sugared almonds, but rather one that has been specifically picked and passes the quality control test.
Depending if the end product will be plain chocolate or flavoured, the almond is put through a machine and gets covered in either milk, white or dark chocolate.
If they are going to be flavoured, here is where the sugared almonds are placed in a smaller drum and an aroma is mixed into the chocolate which is what makes the flavour of the sugared almond. Fun Fact: It’s not the actual chocolate that creates the flavour of the sugared almond, but the aroma they put into it!
Next is the “shining” process, where first a drum sprays white sugar over the chocolate that forms into the coating you find around the sugared almond, followed by another ingredient they spray over the sugared almond to give them a shiny finish. Another Fun Fact: The flavoured sugared almond actually comes out of the drum cold, as there is a cold air in the drum to keep the chocolate intact. We got to try them at this temperature which was a different tasting experience! 
Before each sugared almond gets placed in its box, they are double and triple checked manually to make sure they have not been damaged, and that they still meet factory standards. All boxes are packed via a large machine, and the box is then handpicked and placed in a carton ready to be delivered to us in Australia. We were super impressed at how they do this because it gives us the confidence knowing our products are not delivered to you if they are not of the highest quality.
Oh, and may I also add how HUGE their warehouse is! I’m talking 12,000 square metres!
We were lucky enough to try a new flavour the factory is currently working on, not even the Italians have had the chance to try it so we felt pretty privileged! And OMG it was so good! This flavour had been specifically requested by one of their customers, but unfortunately we can’t share what it is. They plan to sell it as part of their range, so watch this space!
So there you have it, a little behind the scenes of a tour around our factory and how our flavoured sugared almonds come to life!
If all this talk about flavoured sugared almonds has got you interested to see more, click here to visit our website and check out our delicious range!
With sweet love
Rosi xx
