Rocky MountainChocolate Factory is an international franchisor, confectionery manufacturer and retail operator in the United States, Canada, Japan, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. The company is based in the town of Durango located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in southwestern Colorado. From its factory, the company manufactures chocolate candies and other confectionery products to supply its many franchise locations, delivered fresh by its fleet of refrigerated trucks. The factory typically produces approximately 300 chocolate candies and other confectionery products, using proprietary recipes developed primarily by its master candy maker. These products include many varieties of clusters, caramels, creams, meltaways, truffles and molded chocolates. Individual stores prepare a variety of caramel and candy apples, fudge, chocolate items and confections in full view of the customer using traditional cooking utensils such as copper kettles on gas-fired stoves and marble slab cooling tables. In 1985, the company went public and is now traded on the NASDAQ exchange under the symbol "RMCF".
History
The company was founded by Frank Crail, who had recently moved to Durango from Newport Beach, California to raise his family in a small town. He later confessed to Candy industry magazine that he would have opened a See's Candies, but the company doesn't sell franchises. In 1981, the first store was opened on Main street by Frank and two partners. In 1982, the company's first franchises, one in Colorado Springs and one in Park City, Utah were opened. An offsite factory was also built that year. In 1983, the two other partners left the business. In 1985, the company went public on the NASDAQ. In 1996, Whitman's Candies made an offer to buy the company for US$16 million. The offer was rejected by management after the company's results improved in late 1999. In 2013, Kellogg's in the United States partnered with the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory to release a cereal under the latter's brand which consists of sweetened corn flakes, almond slices, and chocolate pieces. After a brief test run, Kellogg's expanded the cereal nationwide in 2014, in part to positive reviews and growing consumer interest in the product.
