After 100+ years in Tacoma, Almond Roca releases new candy. Look inside factory
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Almond Roca unveils new dark chocolate pistachio flavor for Christmas.
- Tacoma factory now makes about 4 million Almond Roca pieces daily.
- Factory store in 1962 World’s Fair pavilion sells discounted test batches.
The smell of caramelized sugar and browned butter filled the air Tuesday as machines whirred, stirred, cut and cooled about 4 million pieces of chocolate-almond toffee inside the Brown & Haley Almond Roca factory in Tacoma.
Almond Roca has been a Tacoma staple since 1923. For the first time in 54 years, the company is unveiling a new flavor for all markets this August: a hazelnut Mountain Bar, staff told The News Tribune upon a tour of its factory last week. A special dark chocolate pistachio Roca is also coming this Christmas only, said marketing director Kathi Rennaker.
Now is the candy company’s busy season, preparing an assortment of candies for next Christmas and Lunar New Year. The factory in the Dome District, at 110 E. 26th St, “has been the one and only factory in the entire world that every single piece of Almond Roca has ever been made,” Rennaker said. Its equipment has changed over time, but the recipe is “99.5% the same as it always was,” with real chocolate, almonds and butter, she said.
Daniel Dror, owner and designer of local escape room Cityscape Games, accompanied The News Tribune on its tour April 7. Dror plans to release a new escape room about being trapped in a candy factory this fall, inspired by the Brown & Haley factory.
How do you make Roca?
The factory floor was slick with local butter Tuesday as staff (wearing long white coats, hair nets and beard nets) ground 55 pound blocks into large metal tanks.
At 200 degree temperatures, the butter is liquified into a butter-sugar-palm oil slurry. Other machines grind whole unbroken California almonds, then add it into the lava-like toffee.
The toffee is cooled to become a sort of “toffee blanket” before it is run through another machine that trims the edges. A “candy guillotine” chops the toffee into two-inch pieces. The candy is cooled, then run through a machine that coats the bottom and top with chocolate. The Roca then gets “absolutely sandblasted” with finely chopped almonds, Rennaker said.
After, the Roca is cooled and bumped around through an elaborate grid of conveyor belts before making its way to a wrapping machine that speedily covers the candy in its signature gold foil before spitting it out on another conveyor belt to be packaged.
Back in the old days, Almond Roca was made in a kettle, poured out onto a table, rolled, cut and wrapped by hand, Rennaker said. Staff could make about 4,000 a day. But now, with the help of automation, Brown & Haley make 4 million a day, she said.
Upon a tour of the rooms where Brown & Haley’s Mountain Bars and caramel clusters are made, a fine dusting of cocoa powder rested on the machines. In an eight-hour shift, staff can make 10,000 pounds of Mountain Bars (which are round candy bars, often with a nut butter center), Rennaker said.
Where’s the best place to buy Roca?
The Brown & Haley factory store is located outside the factory in a round pavilion with an Almond Roca tin on top. There you can find products you won’t find anywhere else, including candy test batches for a discount, Rennaker said. The structure was originally part of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair and was even used as Elvis Presley’s “green room” when he was filming the movie “It Happened at the World’s Fair” in 1963. The store is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. five days a week.
Ross Dress for Less is the largest retailer for Almond Roca, which typically carries the limited edition Mocha Roca, Rennaker said. The Almond Roca outlet store is located at 3500 20th St. E. in Fife.
You can also find Roca products at places Safeway, Walmart, Walgreens and Stadium Thriftway, she said. Mountain Bars are more tricky to find — Ace Hardware’s all over the Pacific Northwest are known to have them, Rennaker said.
This story was originally published April 13, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
