Chocolate fountain sizes range from a little over a foot to over 40 inches. Well, not exactly. as the biggest fountain in the world is installed at The Belagio in Las Vegas (see below), a 27-feet tall glass-encased structure running more than 2,100 lbs of melted dark and white chocolates
Eight years ago, you would never have thought of buying a chocolate fountains. First of all, they were HEAVY! Transporting nearly 50 kg of stainless steel equipment may not be worth your cravings. Secondly they are EXPENSIVE! You may have the space to store bulky catering boxes, but is it worth shelling over a thousand dollars for something you use once or twice year? Thirdly they are HUGE, To run a 34" fountain, you need to melt 20 lbs of chocolates and if few guests turned up in your party, you will have several kilos of left over chocolate literally going down the drain. This was back in the days when chocolate fountains were used purely for commercial purposes.
Chocolate fountain machines is said to have been invented by Ben Brisman and popularized by a Canadian company called Design & Realization (Dri) which makes chocolate pastry and confectionery equipment. Dri catered to hotels and caterers with their Dri fountains. Market response has not been encouraging until companies such as US-based Buffet Enhancements and Sephra stepped into the marketplace and made the product more attractive to broader customer demographics.
As more and more people see fountains on catered events, they began enquiring models for home use. At the end of 2004, US-based the Hellmann Group began marketing the Nostalgia Chocolate Fountain which were small, lightweight, transportable and easy to maintain and affordable. Sephra followed close behind, introducing a line of high-end home chocolate fountains in 2005 integrating some of the innovative features of their commercial models to the home models.
Increased retail consumer awareness drove commercial chocolate fountain rental and sales and created an evolving value chain which includes fountain chocolate manufacturers as well as makers of sauces, food colorings and flavorings and oils. Today the chocolate fountain is used interchangeably with “fondue” as it is used to serve anything from cheese dips to barbecue sauces.
Chocolate fountain sizes range from a little over a foot to over 40 inches. Well, not exactly. as the biggest fountain in the world is installed at The Belagio in Las Vegas (see below), a 27-feet tall glass-encased structure running more than 2,100 lbs of melted dark and white chocolates
