Logan has long been famous for Aggie Ice Cream. Visitors to the northern Utah town will soon be able to try a new local treat-- Aggie Chocolate.
Located in Blue Square across the street from Maverick Stadium, the Aggie Chocolate factory will allow visitors to observe the chocolate making process from bean to bar.
“Most of us when you talk about chocolate, you think about the product that you see already on the shelf right? We don’t realize what is behind that product. So this factory will give them the opportunity to really understand the processes that are involved in making chocolate,” said Silvana Martini, a professor in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science at Utah State University.
Martini teaches a general education class about the history and science of chocolate.
“The class was mainly based on lectures and assignments and reading books and things like that. No lab involved. So over the years, we’ve been thinking that it would be a great experience for the students to have a lab component for this class,” Martini said.
The chocolate factory will be the first of its kind at a university in the western United States. Self-guided tour materials will allow community members to easily learn about how the sweet treat is made. In the future, there are plans to open a chocolate cafe.
“We want to develop flavors that will pair up with our Aggie Ice cream flavors," said Steve Shelton, the production manager at the chocolate factory. "So we’ll have a salted caramel bar, we’ll have an Aggie Blue Mint bar, we’ll have a cookies and cream bar, a True Aggie Night flavored bar.”
Chocolate production has not begun yet, but visitors can see the space and the preparation of the machines. The targeted opening date is September 17 during College of Ag week.
