Inside the Factory: The Machines Behind Every Moon Magic Bite
A quick, playful look at the machines — watch above, or read what each one does below.
R&D Lab Notes — inside how Moon Magic is made
The short answer: Behind every Moon Magic Bite — our no-sugar, low-calorie, vegan milk chocolate candy bar bites — is a small factory full of confectionery equipment: a Gami tempering machine, a Gami enrobing belt, a DCM-200 melanger, a one-shot depositor, a Savage Brothers candy cooker with a copper kettle, and a large planetary mixer, among others. Right now the process is largely handmade. This is a quick, playful peek at the machines that make it all happen, and an honest look at what each one does.
A peek inside the Moon Magic factory
Chocolate making, at our scale, is equal parts craft and equipment — with a bit of playful fun mixed in. The machines run the show, and the team pops in to say hello. But behind the fun, each piece of equipment does a specific job, and together they're what let a small first-phase factory produce a surprising range of confections. Here's what you're actually looking at.
What each machine does
Gami tempering machine. Tempering is the process of carefully heating and cooling chocolate so the cocoa butter crystallizes into the right structure. It's what gives finished chocolate its glossy shine and satisfying snap, and stops it from turning dull or streaky. Gami is a high-end European maker of chocolate equipment, and tempering is one of the most important steps in making chocolate that looks and feels right.
Gami enrobing belt. Enrobing is how a center — a caramel, a filling, a biscuit — gets coated in a smooth, even layer of chocolate as it travels along a belt. It's the step that turns a bare center into a finished, fully-coated bite.
Melanger (DCM-200). A melanger uses heavy stone rollers to grind and refine ingredients over long periods, smoothing the texture and developing flavor. It's a classic tool of bean-to-bar and fine chocolate work, prized for the silky texture it produces.
One-shot depositing machine. A one-shot depositor can deposit a shell and a filling at the same time, in a single step, into a mold. It's an efficient way to make filled chocolates without building them up in separate passes.
Candy cooker with copper kettle (Savage Brothers). A candy cooker is used to cook sugar-based confections — caramels, brittles, and the like — to precise temperatures. The copper kettle is a traditional choice because copper conducts heat quickly and evenly, which matters a great deal when cooking confections.
Large planetary mixer. A planetary mixer's beater orbits the bowl as it spins, mixing thoroughly and evenly. It's a workhorse for combining ingredients at volume.
These are just the machines in this video — we have others too — and together they're what allow us to make our current range of Moon Magic products.
Why owning this equipment matters
Having these machines in our own factory is what lets us produce, test, and refine everything in-house rather than depending on someone else's line. For being in quite a small first-phase factory space, we've been able to develop a real variety of confections with this equipment.
We're honest about where we are, though: right now, much of what we do is quite handmade.
What's next: from handmade to production line
We're still in our first-phase factory. In our second facility, we'll need to move toward more of a production-line setup to increase efficiency — evolving away from the handmade approach as much as we reasonably can, largely for cost reasons.
Over the next six months, our goal is to use the skills we've developed in this space to see what efficiencies we can innovate right here — continuing to optimize the space and the machines we already have. It's the same pattern behind everything we do: the more we do ourselves, the more we learn, and the better we get.
Frequently asked questions
What is chocolate tempering?
Tempering is the controlled heating and cooling of chocolate so the cocoa butter forms the right crystal structure, giving the finished chocolate its shine, snap, and smooth finish.
What is a melanger used for?
A melanger uses stone rollers to grind and refine chocolate ingredients over time, smoothing texture and developing flavor.
What does a one-shot depositing machine do?
It deposits a chocolate shell and its filling simultaneously into a mold in a single step, making filled chocolates more efficiently.
Does Moon Magic make its chocolate in-house?
Yes. Moon Magic produces its no-sugar, low-calorie, vegan milk chocolate candy bar bites in its own Vancouver factory, using its own confectionery equipment, with in-house R&D and manufacturing.
More from the Moon Log: What is oat milk powder? · A day in the life at our factory · How we built our own chocolate factory
Moon Magic is a Vancouver-based chocolate company building everything in-house, from factory to finished bite. This article accompanies a short behind-the-scenes video of our confectionery equipment and the people who make it all happen.