TOURS

A highlight for many attendees, RCI takes education to the next level through exclusive, behind-the-scenes tours. Gain a new perspective of your craft from fellow candy makers, chocolatiers and artisans sure to inspire ideas to take home to your business. 

THURSDAY TOURS 

Participants on Thursday will all tour Rosalind Candy Castle and Sarris Candies. Tour tickets include breakfast, motor coach transportation and lunch.

	CANCELED Anderson's Candies Baden, PA RCI Member		Rosalind Candy Castle New Brighton, PA RCI Member		Sarris Candies Canonsburg, PA RCI Member
	Candy has been in the Anderson family since the first store opened in 1916. Still using founder Harry Anderson’s original recipes, the family business is owned and operated by its second, third and fourth generations. Come tour their facility and see how they make some of their favorite confections.		For over 100 years, Rosalind Candy Castle has emphasized quality confections above all else. The key values of this third-generation family business are apparent as you watch their skilled confectioners hand temper and dip chocolate confections and experience age-old starch moulding techniques, alongside modern technology.		The beginning of Sarris Candies plays out as a love story. In 1960, Frank Sarris began to make his own chocolate confections to win the affections of his sweetheart, Athena. It worked. Today their love story lives on as this family business continues to flourish. Tour their chocolate factory and watch the Sarris team craft some of their signature confections and ice cream treats.

FRIDAY TOURS 

Tour participants will have the option between a NEW, full-day EduTour at Romolo Chocolates or visit long-time RCI members, Daffin’s Candies and Duerr Packaging, in addition to Andy's Candies and America’s oldest working forge. Both tour options include breakfast, motor coach transportation and lunch.
 

NEW! EduTour SOLD OUT
Romolo Chocolates
Erie, PA - RCI Member 
Spend the day at Romolo Chocolates in Erie, Pennsylvania, where you’ll experience a new, education tour opportunity led by the Stefanelli family—third and fourth generation confectioners. Named for his confectioner grandfather, Romolo Chocolates was launched by Tony Stefanelli in 1994, and expanded to include an award-winning gift shop and Cocoa Café in 2003. Explore the beautiful 27,000-square-foot facility on a guided tour, learn how to create a better on-boarding process and enjoy extensive confectionery demonstrations. View video.

Education: Create a Better Employee On-Boarding Process
Dip into company culture built from expert training. Learn best practices for creating an employee on-boarding process that sets new hires up for success and fosters a strong company culture.

Demonstrations
Learn more about working with fresh fruit and perfecting moulding techniques. Discover unique taste profiles of handcrafted nougat and caramel and experience the craftsmanship that goes into making Grandpa Romolo’s Famous Sponge Candy.

Tour
Located on the southern shore of Lake Erie a couple hours north of Pittsburgh, experience Romolo’s three, sensory-specific retail spaces: the chocolate shop; Mercato, the gift shop; and the Cocoa Café.
 

North East Pennsylvania Tours
Travel north of Pittsburgh to visit multi-generational family business and long-time RCI member, as well as an interactive experience at America’s oldest working forge.

Andy's Candies Bulger, PA		Daffin's Candies Sharon, PA - RCI Member
What started with one recipe in 1955, Andy’s Candies has grown into a successful, multigenerational business with the same commitment to quality. Using Andy’s original handmade recipes, based on fresh, quality ingredients, their signature pieces include chocolate-covered pretzels and potato chips, almond butter crunch, fudge balls and turtles.		With a knack for merchandising, third-generation candy maker, Pete Daffin brought his dream of creating a chocolate-covered kingdom come to life. Tour Daffin’s Candies’ flagship store, featuring a collection of chocolate creatures and a massive chocolate “Castle Tree,” and observe the production of their candy bar and caramel pecanette lines at their production facility.
Duerr Packaging Burgettstown, PA - RCI Member		Wendell August Forge Mercer, PA
The Duerr family has had a hand in making packaging for the confectionery industry since 1953. Although Duerr Packaging is well known for their heart-shaped boxes, gain a new perspective of packaging on a guided tour of their plastics division. Experience each step of the process needed to manufacture plastic thermoformed candy trays and other plastic packaging from start to finish.		Experience America's oldest and largest working coal fire forge, crafting hand-wrought ornamental metalware and elegant giftware since 1923. Watch as skilled metalworkers and artisans craft gifts of enduring beauty using an eight-step process with roots in ancient metalworking. As tour guests, you will be invited to make your own keepsake gift during an interactive, hands-on experience.