Private Giving
Penn State Intercom......October 18, 2001

Blommer Chocolate gives
$250,000 for food science

By Mike Bezilla
University Relations

Blommer Chocolate Co., one of the largest manufacturers of chocolate in North America, has given $250,000 to support construction of the new Food Science Building on the University Park campus.

Now in the planning stage, the building will contain laboratories, classrooms, offices, pilot-scale processing facilities, and a new creamery manufacturing and sales area. It will be located about a block east of the current facility, the 68-year old Borland Lab. It is estimated to cost $22 million in combined private, state and University funds.

Joseph Blommer, president of the Chicago-based company, and Henry Blommer, CEO, said his firm was especially interested in helping to develop the building's 3,000-square-foot pilot plant, intended to be a scaled-down version of a real manufacturing facility.

"Pilot plants offer students the hands-on training and practical instruction necessary to keep the food industry current on best practices," Joe Blommer said. He also noted that their company employs several Penn State alumni and offers a summer internship program for undergraduate food science students.

The current pilot plant in Borland Lab is small (500 square feet) and temperature and humidity -- critical factors in the preparation of various products -- are difficult to control, according to Food Science Department Head John Floros. The new facility will enable the department to use state-of-the-art food processing equipment and broaden the range of experiments it conducts.

Founded in 1930, Blommer Chocolate is a supplier of chocolate, cocoa powder and a variety of related products to the confectionery, bakery and dairy industries. Headquartered in Chicago, it also has plants in East Greenville, Pa., and Union City, Calif. The company remains family owned and operated.

Design for the Food Science Building began earlier this year. The building is slated to be completed in 2005. It will help the University better serve the needs of Pennsylvania's food processing and manufacturing industry, which includes more than 2,300 companies employing 90,000 workers.

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