WESTBROOK — The makers of Haven’s Candies wanted to do something that would “make a big splash” to celebrate the Maine company’s 100th anniversary.
And what could possibly make a bigger splash, for a candy lover anyway, than a 418-pound chocolate lobster?
The folks at Haven’s unveiled such a lobster, named Shelby, at their Westbrook factory Wednesday. The confectionery crustacean, measuring more than 7½ feet long, was created in an attempt to set a Guinness World Record for “largest chocolate sculpture.”
“We just wanted something that would make a big splash for our anniversary this year, and we thought this would do it,” said Haven’s owner Erin Collins, unveiling the lobster Wednesday morning. “And we’re so happy we could name it after Shelby.”
The lobster is named for Shelby Putnam, who owned Haven’s from 1970 to 1990, with his wife, Harris. He still works for the company as chief engineer. Plus, lobsters have shells, after all.
As part of the application process to have the lobster considered by Guinness, Collins had to show it to local media. Collins said she’s not sure when she might hear back from Guinness on whether Shelby will get his place in chocolate lobster history.
But she does know there is no existing record in that category, yet.
Shelby is now on display, through Oct. 22, behind a glass wall at Haven’s Westbrook factory and store on County Road. So people who come in to shop for candy can take a gander at him too.
Shelby is solid milk chocolate. A team of Haven’s candy makers spent more than 40 hours creating the lobster, not including the time it took to sculpt and cast the mold that was used. The lobster had to be cooled in a makeshift cooling tunnel constructed of Styrofoam and cooled by an air conditioner. Most of the factory’s cooling tunnels are made for much smaller pieces of chocolate.
Haven’s will be celebrating its 100th anniversary through the end of this year. It will host its annual open house, with tours and sampling, on Oct. 12.
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