What Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory Would Cost Today

We’ve all dreamed of the magical world that is Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That fictional factory will forever be ingrained in the minds of viewers but what if the factory came to life? How much would it cost to run a place with a chocolate river, a glass elevator and a team of Oompa Loopmas? Well, we at Advanced Technology Services did the math of how much it would cost and maintain the Chocolate Factory from this iconic book.

As you might have guessed, running the Chocolate Factory is no cheap feat. For one, the legendary chocolate river would have to pump approximately 150,000 gallons of liquid chocolate. That alone costs about $32.6 million! Our infographic below has the figures for if Mr. Wonka wanted to go organic with his chocolate river.

Some of the other luxuries of the factory like Wonka’s lickable wallpaper (~ $2,600 to cover ~650 square feet of hallway) and golden goose eggs (about $6,032 each) are less expensive but still add up quick. Of course the highest costs would be the flying glass elevator. We estimated that would cost Wonka around $109 million when you combine the costs of an average elevator with a low-end market rocket. Our infographic, found below, goes into more detail about this.

All told, it appears that Mr. Wonka and his company are looking at a grand total of $224.6 million to keep the factory running each year. These costs may be exorbitant, and there are doubtless a few ways to pare it down—but what fun would that be?

 What Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory Would Cost Today  from Advanced Technology Services