WEST LOOP — Blommer Chocolate Company is closing its Chicago factory, officials announced Friday.
The facility at 600 W. Kinzie St. has been running since 1939, and it’s Blommer’s original manufacturing plant, officials said. The decision to close is due to the increasing costs and repairs required to maintain the building, which have also led to production reliability issues.
The facility is set to close in May, the Sun-Times reported.
But Blommer Chocolate isn’t fully leaving the city. Its headquarters and lab will remain at Merchandise Mart, while a new research and development center overseeing concept testing, processing and ingredient research is set to open in the fall, officials said.
“It was an incredibly challenging yet inevitable decision to close the Chicago plant,” Mark Okita, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President of Commercial, said in a statement.
“However, in order to propel Blommer to the next level, we must embrace progress, transformation and elevation. This marks a new chapter for us as Blommer, as well as our customers. It is imperative that we challenge ourselves aggressively to ensure that this becomes the best chapter yet,” Okita said.
The company is focused on expanding its operations in Canada, Pennsylvania and California, Okita said in the statement. Leaders plan to invest $100 million into those three three remaining facilities.
The closing means the aroma of chocolate that often emanates from the factory and welcomes Chicagoans into the Downtown area will soon fade.
Chicagoans and visitors alike have long been fascinated by the sweet smell of chocolate wafting through the West Loop and along the Chicago River. About a decade ago, Chicagoan Ian Petchenik started a map to track where the scent travels using wind direction, wind speed and anecdotal reports.
“People can tweet and say, ‘I got off the bus at State and Lake and I can smell the chocolate,'” Petchenik told DNAinfo in 2014. Then he’d add it to the map, which started off as an inside joke between friends.
Blommer Chocolate Co. was founded 85 years ago and was family-owned for three generations. It’s since become one of the world’s largest industrial chocolate producers and cocoa bean processors.
In November 2018, Japanese company Fuji Holdings signed a $750 million deal to buy Blommer and its West Loop operations. The company previously had a West Loop retail shop that closed in 2020.
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