5 Fab and Free Food Factory Tours

Ever wonder how your favorite candy or snack is made? Food factories all over the country invite visitors behind the scenes to watch the people and machines that make it happen. These factory tours make particularly great pit stops for families: they are interesting for kids, typically take 45 minutes or less, and almost always include a tasting sample of the product. These five factory tours are both fun for families and also fabulously free.

Jelly Belly Candy Co.

The Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California, is a good pit stop between San Francisco and Sacramento. The 40-minute tour shows you how jelly beans are made and lets you view the brightly colored beans turning in the vat. After the tour, stop in the store for “ Belly Flops”—irregular jelly beans that ended up in silly shapes and sizes.

Utz Snacks

Learn how a potato becomes a potato chip with this self-guided audio tour at the Utz Snacks Factory in Hanover, Pennsylvania. You’ll watch as potatoes are peeled, sliced, fried, salted, and packaged. You can sample chips at the end of the tour and then drive two blocks to the Utz Factory Outlet Store to stock up on bags at a discount.

(MORE: Planning a trip to Pennsylvania? Check out these kid-friendly hotels.)

Hammond’s Candies Factory