We regret that both are no more. Here's the scoop.
The Ocean Spray bottling plant and warehouse are still there, but tours haven't been given since spring 2000. (This was a cool tour where you could watch the berries being sorted, crushed, and blended into a variety of cranberry products; at the end of the tour was a gift shop and free juice bar).
The original Kidd Marshmallow plant blew up in the Pepcon incident in May 1988 (a massive explosion at the rocket-fuel factory next door to Kidd, in which two people were killed). The marshmallow plant was rebuilt as Favorite Brands International, but the tours were discontinued and as far as we can tell, the whole business is now gone.
And that's not all. Another casualty of recent times was Coffee Roasters of Las Vegas, which was located on Boulder Highway and offered free behind-the-scenes tours of the roasting process. They closed in 2008. The National Vitamin Company that was formerly on Industrial Road and offered a free and popular self-guided tour of the vitamin-making process. They relocated to Arizona around three years ago and discontinued the tour. Vegas Chips potato chip factory, which offered tours, is also no more. Here's an amusing anecdote sent in by a reader when we addressed this issue once before:
"We visited the Vegas Chip factory about 10 years ago. I saw it mentioned in the AAA travel guide. We thought Vegas Chips made gaming chips. My buddy and I rented a car and drove over; our wives stayed at the casino and gambled. I was the first one through the factory door. As soon as I stepped in, there were large glass windows looking out on the plant floor. I stood there dumbfounded as I saw bags of potato chips coming off the packaging line. We spent some time speaking to the owner and they gave us each a bag of chips. When we got back to the Sands our wives were waiting for us in our rooms. We walked in and tossed the bags of potato chips on the bed. We all had a good laugh. A few months later I saw on the news that one of the Vegas Chips delivery trucks was hijacked. I guess the hijackers thought the truck was deliverying gaming chips."
So, that just leaves two remaining options in the way of free factory tours, as far as we're aware. One is the Don Pablo Cigar Company (favored by old-time poker players, including the late Puggy Pearson), where members of the public are still welcome to come along for free and have the whole cigar-fabricating process explained and see the genuine Cuban rollers at work. It's not a "factory tour," since it allt takes place in a small workshop, but it's interesting to watch nonetheless, especially if you're a cigar smoker. The store's open from 9 a.m.–6: p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.–4 p.m. on Sundays, the rollers only work Tuesday through Friday and generally leave at 3:30 p.m. The workshop and retail outlet is located at 3049 Las Vegas Blvd. and single cigars start at $3.50. For further information call 702/369-1818.
The other long-running factory tour that's so far managed to weather the economic storm is at the Ethel M Chocolate Factory & Botanical Cactus Gardens located approximately 15 minutes from the Strip at Two Cactus Gardens Drive, Henderson. Probably the best known of Las Vegas' free factory tours, this gourmet outpost of the Mars chocolate empire is open daily from 8:30 a.m.-7 p.m. The free self-guided tour includes video demonstrations and a chance to see live behind-the-scenes glimpses of the whole candy-making process, culminating in a visit to the Chocolate Shoppe, where you get a free sample and a chance to purchase all your favorite flavors. (Call ahead as the chocs are produced in small batches and the production line doesn't necessarily run all day.)
After the tour, you can work off some of the calories by taking a stroll around the three-acre botanical gardens, which feature one of the largest collections of cacti in the U.S.
