Frango

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Midwest version of Frango logo.

Northwest version of Frango logo.

Frango is a brand of chocolate meltaway truffles sold by Macy's department stores. Frango is most closely associated with the Pacific Northwest and Midwestern regions of the United States. Originally a creation of the Seattle-based Frederick & Nelson department store chain in 1918, the Frango was later introduced to Chicago-based Marshall Field's using a similar recipe in 1929.

Frango chocolates are available at Macy's locations nationwide as well as macys.com.^[1]

[edit] Origins

Frango's origins go back to 1918, according to a trademark document from the U.S. Patent Office. Originally, the Frango was the name for a frozen dessert sold at the sophisticated Tea Room at Frederick & Nelson's department store at Sixth Avenue and Pine Street in Downtown Seattle. The first Frango frozen dessert was available in maple and orange flavors.

There are a few different theories as to the origins of the Frango name. One theory is originated by the combination of "Fr" from Frederick’s and the "ango" from the word tango.^{[citation needed]} Some have also said that Frango is an acronym for FRederick And Nelson GOodness.^{[citation needed]}

A much-repeated theory—repeated, at times, even by people very close to the stores concerned—states that Frederick & Nelson originally called the chocolates Franco Mints. In the 1930s, after Frederick & Nelson's was acquired by Marshall Field's, the name was changed to Frango after the Spanish Civil War, when Generalísimo Franco met with Hitler to avoid similarities to the Spanish dictator's name.^[2] ^[3] However, the brand name Frango was trademarked June 1, 1918. ^[4]

In 1926, the consistency of the Frango Dessert was described as flaky, requiring the use of a fork, not a spoon, as you would use with ice cream. The Frango name eventually was extended to ice-cream sodas, pies and milkshakes sold at the store. It wasn't until 1927 that Ray Alden, who ran Frederick's in-store candy kitchen, developed the Frango mint meltaway chocolate. Alden's secret recipe used chocolate made from both African and South American cocoa beans as well as triple-distilled oil of Oregon peppermint and 40% local butter.^[5]

[edit] Two Forms

[edit] From The Emerald City To The Windy City

A few months after Frederick & Nelson was sold to Marshall Field's in 1929, the Frederick & Nelson candy makers in Seattle were summoned to Chicago to introduce Frangos to Marshall Field's to help build slumping sales during the great depression. Soon the candy kitchen at Marshall Field's had produced their own Midwestern interpretation of the Frango Chocolate recipe. Although the Northwest version still uses the original Frederick & Nelson recipe, the Marshall Field's recipe has been modified a few times.^[5] This as well as the use of different ingredients and equipment would account for any difference in taste between the two versions.

[edit] Packaging Variations

One crucial distinction between the two types of Frango chocolates is the packaging. Midwestern Frango chocolates are sold in traditional flat candy boxes, with the chocolates set in candy papers. By contrast, Northwest Frango chocolates are individually wrapped, and sold in distinctive hexagon shaped boxes.

[edit] Seattle Changes

[edit] Frederick & Nelson Shuts Down

The 1982 the purchase of Marshall Field's by BATUS Retail Group (a unit of BATUS Inc.) proved ill-fated for the Frederick & Nelson subsidiary. By 1986, an overstretched BATUS decided to dispose of Frederick & Nelson, selling it and Spokane, Washington based retailer The Crescent to a Washington state-based investor group. Despite this ownership turmoil, Frederick's continued to distribute Frangos, albeit under license from Field's. In 1992, continued financial difficulties led to the final closure of all Frederick's locations. By that time, Field's itself had changed hands, becoming a unit of Minneapolis-based Dayton Hudson Corporation. Seattle civic leaders quickly engineered a deal under which Dayton Hudson agreed to let Seattle's remaining full-line department store, The Bon Marché, continue to sell Frangos in the northwest.

[edit] Seattle Gourmet Foods

This solution proved highly problematic. While Frederick & Nelson was still in business, the candies were made on the 10th floor of the chain's flagship Pine Street store. After Frederick & Nelson's demise, a former Frango candymaker founded Seattle Gourmet Foods, which won a production contract with The Bon and moved candymaking to a new site. Seattle Gourmet manufactured the meltaways using much of the same equipment Frederick & Nelson used to manufacture the mints.^[6]

[edit] The Bon Marché Files Suit

After ten years of using Seattle Gourmet Foods to manufacture the chocolates, The Bon terminated the contract in early 2003. The candymaker retaliated by producing its own line of "Frederick & Nelson Fine Chocolates," using hexagonal packaging similar to that of the traditional Frangos box. The Bon promptly sued, but Seattle Gourmet Foods countersued, claiming that the contract termination was unlawful. Late in 2004, the parties reached a settlement in which The Bon made an undisclosed payment to Seattle Gourmet Foods, in exchange for exclusive rights to the recipe, the use of hexagonal boxes, and the Frederick & Nelson and F&N names.^[7]

[edit] The Bon, The Bon-Macy's, Macy's

Today the Pacific Northwest version of Frango Chocolates is sold at Macy's Northwest locations in Washington, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. This is as a result of Federated Department Stores unifying all it's regional department stores under the single Macy's banner. Another local Seattle company, Seattle Chocolates, now makes the Frango chocolates for Macy's Northwest.^[5]

[edit] Chicago Changes

[edit] Marshall Field's Candy Kitchen Shuts Down

The Midwest version had been produced on the 13th floor of the Marshall Field's flagship State Street store from 1929 until March 1999. However demand for the chocolates overwhelmed the in house facility, so production responsibilities conracted out to Gertrude Hawk Chocolates in Dunmore, Pennsylvania.^[8] This enraged Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who sought to have the chocolates made by a local Chicago company.^[8]

[edit] Gertrude Hawk Production Process

The process begins using giant blocks of Chicago's own Blommer chocolate melted at nearly 200°F. Then tiny rectangular molds receive the combination of milk and dark chocolate, plus a special mint oil, after it is tempered to 83°F. Air bubbles are eliminated by shaking the molds. The product is cooled via a trip through a long refrigerated tunnel. The chocolates are then sent through an enrobing machine, where more chocolate is poured over them. The Frangos are cooled once again, then boxed by hand, sealed, wrapped and packaged for shipment.^[8]

[edit] From Marshall Field's To Macy's

In 2004, Marshall Field's and the Frango trademark were acquired by St. Louis-based May Department Store Company. In January 2005, Field's new owner May refused to renew Macy's license to the Frango trademark. As a result, Macy's Northwest re-branded the Northwest version of Frango as "Frederick & Nelson, the Original" in February 2005.^[5] On August 30, 2005, Macy's corporate owner, Federated Department Stores, completed its acquisition of May. As a result, a license was no longer needed for Macy's to use the Frango name. The acquisition reunited the two branches of the Frango family for the first time in two decades. Macy's Northwest promptly renamed the Northwest version of the metways as "Frango."

[edit] Return To Chicago?

To appease the Chicago Marshall Field's customers and Chicago Mayor Daley, Federated chairman Terry J. Lundgren announced in September 2005 that Macy's would look into moving production back to Chicago.^[9]^[10] In making the announcement, Lundgren noted that Macy's would look into "our contractural oblgations" to determine if the chocolate production could be moved back to the Windy City, but stressed he was not making any promises in regards to moving production to Chicago.^[11]

[edit] State Street Viewing Kitchen

In the meantime, the Frango Viewing Kitchen on the seventh floor of Macy's On State Street that was closed in 1999 was reopened. The kitchen allows store guests to see the enrobing process Frango chocolate centers are covered in chocolate to create the outside layer. These enrobed chocolates are later used for sampling ^[12]

[edit] Frango: Only at Macy's

By 2006, The Midwest version of Frango chocolates and related items became available for sale online on the Macy's website. In the former The Bon Marché stores, Macy's sells the Northwest version of the chocolates, while the Midwest version is sold elsewhere nationwide.

In the Northwest, Frango is sold in various flavors, with seasonal flavors added year round. During Christmastime Macy's Northwest sells a stuffed Frango teddy bear and various other gift packages. In 2006, gift packages with a Frango mug, drinking chocolate, biscotti and a box of Frango chocolates were sold.

In continuing the Marshall Field's tradition, Macy's North sells the entire line of Frango products. Along with the mint chocolates, coffee, hot chocolate, truffles, cookies, and liquers are among the products sold under the Frango brand. In 2006, Macy's announced that famed Chicago cheesecake baker Eli's Cheesecake would be producing a Frango cheesecake for sale in their stores.^[13]

Also as part of the seventh floor food offerings at Macy's on State Street is the Frango Café, which features sandwiches and salads along with other sweet treats.^[14]