When I was a kid both of my grandmothers worked in the same office for a period of time. It was at the family business, located next door to where I grew up, so I was able to visit them at work frequently. And I did.
I must admit that one of the most alluring reasons to visit was the healthy stock of candy and drinks that my grandmothers would grant me access to. The best candy: Boyer Milk Chocolate Mallo Cups (I wrote a post about them a couple of years ago. The best drink: Yoo-hoo, of course. (I suspect the major reason I liked the color yellow as a kid was that both of these sugary treats used yellow labels and packaging.)
Visiting the Boyer Candies Factory was on my list of things I wanted to do while I still live in the middle of Pennsylvania. Yesterday I made it happen.
The Boyer Candies Factory in Altoona, PA.
I was sort of hoping the building would be yellow.
When I walked into the little factory outlet I realized that childhood me would have considered it heaven. In addition to the familiar Mallo Cups there were other candies I did not know Boyer produced. I also learned that Mallo Cups came in different sizes, too. As I walked around I had to fight the urge to buy more chocolate than I could carry to my car (this is not hyperbole–I really had to fight this urge). The 5lb bags of discounted factory rejected candy (with crinkled labels or crooked seams) made me start thinking outrageous things: I’ll get a bag of these, and these, and these, and these, and these, and these, oh wait that’s 30lbs of chocolate. I guess I should put one back. . .
I exercised some restraint, but still bought a lot of chocolate.
In the end I bought a full display box of classic Milk Chocolate Mallo Cups, a 5lb bag of factory rejected Dark Chocolate Mallo Cups, and a small package of fun bite sized Butterscotch Smoothie Peanut Butter Cups. I had never had the dark chocolate version of the Mallo Cup before (instead of getting one package to test them I bought 5lbs–I was confident I would like them, and I was right). I had also never heard of the Smoothie (they’re good, but not 5lbs good).
If you have never had a Mallo Cup (perish the thought) or if you like them, visit me. I feel like the John D. Rockefeller or Bill Gates of Mallo Cups right now.
