Behind-the-Scenes Factory Tour w/ Eggo Waffles & Eggoji App

This blog post was sponsored by Eggo but the opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

I have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area my whole life but never knew that one of my favorite food items was made only 25 minutes away in San Jose — Eggo waffles! The factory has been operating since the 1970s and continues to mix, bake, and freeze their delicious frozen waffles to this day. Now, the factory never opens its doors for public tours, but an exception was made for our group. I can’t believe Munchkin and I were among the first to visit the Eggo factory! Plus, we were able to find out more about the new Eggo Eggoji app!

Eggo Waffles — Touring the Eggo Factory in San Jose, CA

Before we could tour the grounds, we had to de-accessorize, gear up, and sanitize. Our hosting team did not want to take any chances with contaminating the product. Of course, we all felt the same and happily obliged. No photos were allowed during the tour so I’ll just have to describe it to you. The mixing room contained huge scales to get the ingredient measurements just right. When we were there, dehydrated eggs were being scooped in.

Next, we moved into the room where they keep the waffle irons. I know it should be obvious but I was quite surprised to see traditional-looking waffle irons being used. After batter was put in, the irons were closed and continued to travel around the huge mechanical carousel for up to two minutes until perfectly cooked. Approximately two million waffles can be produced each day!

The waffles are kept warm and piping hot as they enter the cooling area. They travel downward on a spiral conveyor until they are fully frozen. They go in steaming and come out freezing. The waffles are automatically stacked, bagged, and packaged before going straight onto the transport trucks. It was all very fascinating.

L’Eggo My Eggo Eggoji — Creation Time!

When the tour was over, we took off all of the extra garb and headed into a brightly-painted room. Now was time to work (kind of). Each person in our group was asked to use the prepared items to personalize our waffles. We were going to make our own Eggojis! What’s an Eggoji? Well, it’s an Eggo emoji. Cute, right?!

With an almost endless supply of waffles at hand, we went right to it.

For inspiration, we were each given a photo featuring a certain emotion. I had anger (or was it rage) so I made my waffle into a person with a volcano erupting from its head and steam coming from its ears. Munchkin was given “zen” but instead did her own design of “silly”. It was all good.

As we finished one Eggoji, we were free to grab more Eggo waffles to make another. After 2-3 Eggoji masterpieces, most of us were pros! Our creations were then taken to be digitized to use in the new Eggoji app here.

A little friendly competition followed with us having to create something related to California within 5 minutes. Strangely enough, my daughter and I both designed the Golden Gate Bridge over the San Francisco Bay. However, Munchkin didn’t finish in time and I was named the winner. There was no prize but it still felt good to win 😀

L’Eggo My Eggo Eggoji — Emotional Inspiration

Aside from designing our Eggojis, we were taken (in pairs) into separate rooms. There were four different experiences offered to elicit different emotions in us. Munchkin and I were brought into a room with mats laid out. A yoga instructor had us sit down with our legs crossed. She then said we had to close our eyes and chant with her, “L’eggo my Eggo…”

Instead of reaching a state of waffle enlightenment, my daughter burst out laughing. She was cracking up so much that tears were coming out. It was infectious, of course, and I couldn’t help but join her. From the window’s reflection, I could even see the instructor was about to crack. Soon a gong with a blueberry waffle sticker on it was sounded and we were free to go back to our Eggojis.

Lastly, we all sat down to do some taste testing. With 1,500 balloons overhead and a timeline along the wall of Eggo’s history, the food service began. We had several courses brought out consisting of mini portions of waffles with sautéed mushrooms, a waffle grilled cheese sandwich with tomato, and chicken wrapped in a waffle with a delectable sauce (I so need that recipe). Dessert of waffles, fruit, and ice cream put together to look like a burger and fries.

L’Eggo My Eggo Eggoji — Smile! We’re on Candid Camera!

With smiles on our faces and Eggo waffles filling our bellies, we were escorted out. There was one catch though. Our whole day was filmed! Now, we all had an idea we would be videotaped while creating the Eggojis but most of us had no clue about the rest of it. While in the “experience” rooms and at dinner, cameras were hidden behind curtains and behind mirrored windows. The crew took us behind the scenes and we were all shocked. So fun but a bit nerve-wracking. I seriously hope we didn’t embarrass ourselves in the footage and that it will be shown nationwide :p

The whole experience was just so special and I loved that I could share it all with my daughter. Eggojis are a great way to bring families together using a product they already love. For years I have enjoyed Eggo blueberry waffles with butter and sugar, and now my daughter eats it the same way. That common interest coupled with this experience of visiting the Eggo factory is something we can continue to share for many years to come. And, using the Eggo Eggoji app, we can fill our lives with waffle-charged emotions as we communicate each day.

Which Eggo Eggogi will you share?

Download the Eggoji app here and let me know in the comments!

For more Eggo inspiration and fun, follow Eggo on Twitter at twitter.com/eggo.