What Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory Would Cost Today

When it comes to fictional businessmen, few match the panache and eccentricity of Willy Wonka. Sure, Scrooge McDuck literally swims through his fortune and Bruce Wayne has his garage full of bat-shaped muscle cars, but the king of the candy industry takes the cake in terms of frivolity. All the bells and whistles of Wonka’s famous factory make for a very impressive tour, but they can’t be doing much good for the bottom line. That chocolate river surely isn’t part of the production line, is it? How much would it cost to build a flying glass elevator that goes nowhere, anyway?

The answer!

It may not surprise you to learn that running a factory the way Wonka does is very expensive. For example, the aforementioned river of ooey-gooey chocolate would have to pump approximately 150,000 gallons through it at a cost of about $32.6 million. Assuming the Oompa Loompas don’t work for free and that they’re compensated fairly, their annual payroll would total nearly $73.4 million.

It all adds up to Mr. Wonka either being a brilliant businessman to earn enough to afford all of this or a terrible one for spending so much on wallpaper you can taste. To see the grand total of what it would cost to do business this way, look at this infographic. For parents and educators interested in introducing children to STEM, it’s also an excellent and fun visual to teach young ones science concepts such as energy efficiency and more.

Author Bio:

The Advanced Technology Services Marketing Department is an innovative, collaborative, results-driven team focused on driving the business forward. The department consists of four pillars: Business Intelligence, Product Management, Demand Generation, and Marketing Communications in which team members work cross-functionally to increase brand awareness and drive demand for continuous bottom-line growth.