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FOOD NETWORK VISITS THE CHOCOLATE VAULT
 
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Cable
television's Food Network visits the Chocolate
Vault to film segment for fall broadcast
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| by
Deb Wuethrich |
July
25, 2002 |
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DOWNTOWN
TECUMSEH’S CHOCOLATE VAULT AT 110 W.
CHICAGO BOULEVARD
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A
few years ago, Jim and Barb McCann were urged
to make their Chocolate Vault business
available to Internet customers.
"It's the way to go," people said. |
"I didn't even know how to turn it
on," Barb said. Still, she and Jim
decided to heed the advice. She learned to
design and maintain a website that has become
so large their son, Rob McCann, helps maintain
it from Florida. Barb said she also has worked
very hard to ensure their business is one of
the first to be listed on the screen when key
words are typed into the search engines. Words
like "chocolate turkeys." That's how
Laney McVicar, a producer for cable's New York
City based Food Network, found the McCanns.
McVicar heads High Noon Productions, based in
Colorado, and was hired to put together a
Thanksgiving special for the Food Network's
"Unwrapped" series to be aired this
November. She said the one-hour show includes
peeks at the making of food from the
traditional holiday menu, but she wanted to
include some fun, quirky things as well.
McVicar began an on-line search for a novelty
chocolate maker who might make chocolate
turkeys, and voila! Tecumseh's Chocolate Vault
fit the bill.
On July 18, McVicar and Detroit videographer
Reid Riddell, who had done other work for the
network, spent the day in Tecumseh in the
Chocolate Vault kitchen. They taped as Jim
demonstrated the process, from filling the
molds to the trimming operation. They
proceeded to a behind-the-scenes look at the
packaging process then went on to
front-of-the-store sales. The crew was there
13 hours, but the segment to be viewed by a
national audience will encompass less than
four minutes. Still, the couple is pleased to
have the exposure.
"It was a lot of fun," Jim said. He
said he was not uncomfortable under the lights
during the shooting, and the crew was very
organized so things flowed smoothly.
"It was good they were so
personable," he said of spending that
many hours in the small space with the duo.
Barb said they were asked to prepare a few
finished and partially finished samples ahead
of time, mainly to speed things up, so viewers
can see instant results, such as when a TV
chef pulls a finished product from the oven
two seconds after preparing it.
McVicar said the chocolate novelty business
seems to be really catching on in popularity.
"I think what they're doing is really
fun," she said of her impressions from
the Chocolate Vault shoot. "I'm sure
seasonal chocolates during the holidays are a
hit." She said she thought the big 3-D
turkey would make a great Thanksgiving
centerpiece you could then eat for dessert.
Food Network crews often get samples wherever
they do shows, from factories to mom and pop
operations, and McVicar said seeing what goes
on behind the scenes is as fun for them as it
is for the audiences who watch the shows.
"It's especially fun when the samples are
chocolate," she confided then glanced
down at her waistline. "Dangerous,
too."
The air date for the special that will include
scenes from The Chocolate Vault has not yet
been set. Readers might want to pull up
schedule information on www.foodnetwork.com as
the holiday approaches.
JIM
McCANN FILMED WHILE FINISHING
A CHOCOLATE TURKEY
©Tecumseh
Herald 2002
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