When Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates,” he meant you never know what you’re gonna get. And sometimes in life, you get a massive box of chocolates that weighs more than a Chevy Silverado.
Russell Stover, the 100-year-old chocolate maker based in Kansas City, Missouri, just set a new Guinness World Record for the largest box of chocolates by obliterating the previous mark. The company just debuted a replica box measuring more than 30 feet long and more than 15 feet wide while weighing about 2,300 pounds. And that’s before it was loaded with 5,000 pounds of oversized chocolates weighing anywhere from 11 to 38 pounds each.
The previous record was held by UK-based chocolate manufacturer Thorntons since April 2008. That box of chocolates measured more than 16 feet long by more than 11 feet wide and held 3,725 pounds of chocolate. That means Russell Stover beat the weight record by 1,891 pounds.
To make the box, Russell Stover turned to Dimensional Innovations, a design and fabrication firm also based in Kansas City. The company, responsible for other recent projects like an interactive Dallas Mavericks exhibit and a Ferrari race track exhibit for LEGOLAND in California, has a 140,000-square-foot design-build facility that it refers to as an “idea factory.”
To make the chocolates, Russell Stover used its manufacturing facilities in Abilene and Iola, Kansas. According to the giant chocolate guide included in the box, the fillings include peanut cluster, raspberry creme, truffle, toffee and caramel.
The company said that after the event commemorating its 100th anniversary, the oversized box will be put on display in one of its retail locations and the huge chocolates will be “gifted.” And I would just like to say that if there are any coconut clusters left over, you can send one my way.
