--- title: Spill Turns Road Into Chocolate River in Willy Wonka Style description: A German chocolate factory's unexpected spill of a ton of chocolate transformed a road into a river of molten chocolate. canonical: https://time.com/5477890/chocolate-spill-road/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-12T17:02:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:24.388Z og:title: Spill Turns Road Into Chocolate River in Willy Wonka Style og:description: A German chocolate factory's mishap transformed a road into a molten river og:url: https://time.com/5477890/chocolate-spill-road/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Spill Turns Road Into Chocolate River in Willy Wonka Style twitter:description: A German chocolate factory's mishap transformed a road into a molten river twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # German Chocolate Factory's Mishap Transforms Road Into Molten River > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=93873b2f-a617-41dd-81b3-39ff0d61f278&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Dec 12, 2018 5:02 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Dec 12, 2018 5:02 PM UTC Watch out, [Willy Wonka](http://time.com/4537735/willy-wonka-reboot-david-heyman/): this German town is giving the famous fictional candyman a run for his money with a factory spill that transformed a road into a river of molten chocolate, no [Oompa Loompas](http://time.com/4876091/racism-childrens-books-kids-lit/) necessary. According to [local news reports](https://www.apnews.com/6a74666cea1c49f28443c5b06e07dd06?utm%5Fsource=Internet+Brunch&utm%5Fcampaign=d1879ecd2d-EMAIL%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2018%5F11%5F08%5F08%5F44%5FCOPY%5F01&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5Ffb5e40aa73-d1879ecd2d-374661817), a storage tank in the town of Westoennen’s DreiMeister chocolate factory experienced a “small technical defect.” The result: over a ton of liquid chocolate poured out of storage and onto the pavement, turning a regular old street into a bona fide bonanza of chocolatey bliss. Well, theoretical bliss, in any case. It was less fun for those that had to deal with the situation: it took a team of 25 firefighters to clear up the road for normal travel, the [AP reports](https://abcnews.go.com/Weird/wireStory/factory-mishap-paves-street-chocolate-germany-59753960), as the chocolate rapidly hardened into a dessert highway, thanks to chilly temperatures. As for the factory? They’re set to resume operations midweek, hoping to keep on track with Christmas season demand. So while it could have been a “catastrophe,” as the company boss noted, it seems the cocoa mishap won’t be creating too much mayhem. “Despite this heartbreaking incident, it is unlikely that a chocolate-free Christmas is imminent,” the fire department [reportedly said.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46537552) ‘Tis the season for miracles indeed. > [](https://twitter.com/BBCWorld/status/1072818608785514496) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5477890/chocolate-spill-road/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5477890/chocolate-spill-road/"},"headline":"German Chocolate Factory's Mishap Transforms Road Into Molten River","datePublished":"2018-12-12T17:02:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:24.388Z","description":"A ton of chocolate hit the streets","url":"https://time.com/5477890/chocolate-spill-road/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Food & Drink"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5477890/chocolate-spill-road/","name":"German Chocolate Factory's Mishap Transforms Road Into Molten River"}}]}] ```