Road Trip: Fannie May & Harry London Chocolate Factory
Fannie May & Harry London | 5353 Lauby Rd | North Canton, OH
North Canton is a magical place. Just off exit 113 (Lauby Road) on I-77, on a 34-acre site next to the Akron-Canton Regional Airport, sits the Fannie May & Harry London Chocolate Factory. It’s here where more than 500 types of mouthwatering chocolates and gourmet candies are produced. Even better—the company offers free tours, with plenty of samples, of its operations!
Free chocolate. Is there a better phrase in the English language? I don’t think so. I rounded up Tiffany and my mom. Off we went!
Upon arrival, we climbed into a giant Harry London-branded red beach chair outside the facility for some fun pictures. Who doesn’t love a good selfie zone/photo op? Hats off to the company for excellent marketing.
The tour itself—which lasted about 45 minutes—was fun, informative and delicious. Full of heavenly aromas and delectable treats, we learned about the history of the company, received a behind-the-scenes look at the candy-making process and sampled gourmet candy (chocolate almond, chocolate mint, chocolate pretzel and chocolate caramel … are you sensing a theme?). The tour concluded in the retail store where, in addition to eating more chocolate, we delighted in strawberry sorbetto. Side note: sorbetto is a delightful dairy-free frozen treat.
No pictures are permitted during the tour. In fact, the CEO of the company, during a recent visit of the factory, was even told to put his cell phone away. The reason for this policy, you ask? Chocolate spies! Apparently there is such a thing. Side note #2: If this new job at Elk & Elk doesn’t work out, I’m going to train to be a chocolate spy.
Kudos to our tour guide Jessica and the entire staff at Fannie May & Harry London. They were knowledgeable, kind, enthusiastic and helpful.
We had a field day in the retail shop. Hey, don’t blame us … there were lots of great specials! Candy bars were 7 for $10 and boxes of chocolates were heavily discounted. We filled our bags with luscious delights, including milk chocolate peanut butter, sea salt caramel, vanilla buttercream and Trinidads (pastel-coated toasted coconut with a rich chocolate ganache center … that’s fat free, right?).
The Fannie May & Harry London retail store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m. Tours are free and depart hourly, Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
My mom had a good idea. Maybe we should start traveling more out of the Akron-Canton Regional Airport. Think about it … if your flight gets delayed, you can walk over to Fannie May & Harry London and kill time by eating free candy. Sounds like a plan.
All this writing is making me hungry. Time for some chocolate. See you at Fannie May & Harry London. Cheers!
Coming Friday: Let’s get pizza in Gordon Square. Here we come, Il Rione!
