Chocolate facilities range from Bean to Bulk, Bulk to Bar, and even Bean to Bar - but they share many of the same challenges. Chocolate is thick, can set up in the pump, and is messy if the pump leaks. The cast iron 1224C-CHC Series™ comes standard with a jacketed bracket and head - which allows the pump to be heated by hot water, steam, or hot oil prior to startup. This melts the chocolate inside the pump and makes thicker chocolate products easier to pump.

So we all know what chocolate is...but how do you pump it? The chocolate production process can be simply described with these steps: cacao beans are roasted and ground, then mixed with oils into a semi-liquid. This early stage is known as "bitter" chocolate. From here, sugar can be added to make "sweet" chocolate—milk can be added for "milk" chocolate—and if the chocolate has been thinned down it's called chocolate liquor. There are a few different types of chocolate facilities. Some are bean to bulk, where chocolate is processed. Others are bulk to bar, where confections are made.

So I'm the HR support for several different functions within Viking Pump. Right now I support our foundry, our team in Windsor, Canada, and our finance team which sits at a couple of different locations. I did not have the foundry when I first started and I have the foundry now so that was a huge change in responsibilities since we have a union in the foundry and I actually had no experience working in a union environment when I started here. It actually was one of the reasons that I was interested in this job when I took it though.