LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — For a special holiday edition of Nevada Built, we're treating you to a behind-the-scenes look inside a small, family-owned Summerlin shop creating designer chocolates.
KTNV-TV anchor Kelsey McFarland found out what makes the sweets at Red Rock Chocolate Factory so unique.
Walk into the Red Rock Chocolate Factory and you’ll be greeted with the warm smell of fresh caramel made every morning by scratch. It’s part of what makes their caramel apples a best seller, going through 12,000 apples every year.
“We have over 25 flavors of caramel apples,” says owner Timothy Arellano.
His sons, Preston and Cameron, whip up fresh products daily — truffles, clusters, creams and bark. You can find it all.
“This is an artistry, creating the different products and the different flavors,” Arellano said.
The holiday season is like the super bowl for this chocolate shop, with a 200% jump in revenue.
“Everybody talks about Valentine's being the chocolate. In my opinion, being in this business, it’s Christmas,” Arellano said.
He says they go through up to 10,000 pounds of chocolate a year, all made with 30 to 90 percent cacao.
OLD-FASHIONED SWEETS
“You're getting just the real flavors of the old-fashioned chocolate made in the kitchen at home back in the '20s, in the '30s,” Arellano said.
In her toughest assignment yet, McFarland set out to try the best sellers — a milk chocolate truffle, white chocolate tortoise, chocolate-covered mango, and a rich and delicious caramel with sea salt.
"So, you clearly have a passion for this. You've been here seven years. Explain to me how Red Rock Chocolate Factory started, the origins," McFarland asked Arellano.
"It started by a desire to want to be in the chocolate industry. It's a passion that our family was raised in, in the food industry. We've been a part of Vegas for 30 years," Arellano said.
