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Optima Rocks!

By Simon, Managing Director on 27 July 2008 | Category: Optima 0 comments

When Optima needed a promotional item to give away at the 2008 Lincolnshire Show, rock seemed to be a fantastic summer alternative to the usual.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a Lincolnshire manufacturer who could produce it with our 6 corporate colours (pantone matched!) running in glorious swirling stripes down the outside. Needless to say, the rock sticks were a big hit with all ages at the show although we did decide to limit them to 1 bar per child as word quickly spread. We were inundated with school kids and became slightly concerned about the dental health of the county.

Boiling. This is the name given to the first manufacturing process when making lettered rock, where Glucose and sugar are heated to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The resulting syrup is then poured out to cool, colours and flavours are added and it is aerated to produce tiny bubbles within the mixture. Letters or logos are then created, the outer casing is placed on and the entire thing is rolled out and cut into individual lengths. This time-honoured method of manufacture dates back to the early 1800’s. If you are interested in seeing your name in rock or a similarly querky project then contact Julian, our estimator, who will be happy to help and source samples (hopefully some of which may make it to you if they aren’t consumed here!).