What we had to do
We were asked by a regular client of ours to make lots and lots of macarons so that they could use them in 11 of their retail parks worldwide to Europe for a spring/summer merchandising campaign in and around the numerous retail outlets on the parks. We made a total of 6000 x 40mm diameter macarons and almost 1000 small, medium and large versions.
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Making the moulds
Here is the silicone being poured in to the mould to take the shape of the macaron master. -
The macaron moulds
Here is the mould of one half of the macaron with the fast casting resin in place to form the smooth shell of the macaron. In to this we poured a 2-part polyurethane foam which expands to about 6 times its own volume when the 2 parts are mixed together, and fills all the voids. A secondary mould is bolted to this mould, on top of the poured foam as it is expanding and forces the foam to take the shape of the macaron and allows it to set with a flat area that will be the section where we place the cream. -
Macarons straight from the mould
These are the macarons put together to ensure that they fit together well. The two outer shells will be painted separately to the cream. Once all the painting is complete the macarons shells will be bonded to either side of the cream. -
Spraying hundreds of macarons
One of our spray painters painting nothing but macarons in the spray room for days on end. Each macaron had to have both shells painted on 2 sides each, and painted with more than one coat, so those of you who are good at maths can work out that there was a lot of painting to be done. -
Painted macaron shells and cream
Putting the creams in to the shells. -
Stacking macarons
Our workshop filled up to more than twice this amount of finished macarons all waiting to be wrapped and packed. -
Fork lifting the macarons
Getting days worth of use out of our forklift moving over one hundred pallets back and forth and on to lorries ready to be shipped -
Photo campaign
Some of our macarons used for a promotional campaign -
Displaying goods
Some large, medium and small macarons helping to showcase retailers merchandise. -
Macarons in shops
More of our macarons promoting products in stores across UK and Europe -
Mini macarons
The smallest, and the mini macarons looking pretty amongst the shops wares.
How did we do it?
To make the 6000 mini versions we took a silicone mould of actual real life macarons and cast them in a pigmented plaster to produce five coloured macarons. We made masters of the small, medium and large versions and made moulds of these too. In order to achieve the fluffy edges of the macarons as efficiently as we could we poured a 2-part polyurethane foam in to the moulds to take on the shape of the edges, and used a fast casting resin to cast the shells.
Because there were a number of processes we had to go through, as well as the different materials and working conditions we had to be careful to make sure each macaron was done perfectly.
To control the temperature to make sure certain parts of the process would work efficiently, we had to build polythene rooms to regulate temperature and keep out any dust. Each part of the process had an element of danger to it that made it quite a volatile project.
Because of the amount we had to do, in a relatively short time, we had to get them primed and painted as quickly as possible so our spray booth was full for a few weeks and stacking the finished macarons became quite the logistical challenge, but we made the deadline, as always, on time. The finish on the macarons was a deep glossy colour and we achieved this with our cellulose paint system. Each macaron had two shells with a cream filling. The ‘cream’ of each macaron had to be painted a different colour to the shell so we made these separately, painted them and fixed them in between the two shells. Once they were all made we individually wrapped them, placed them on to pallets and shipped them out to different corners of the UK and the rest of the world.
The result
Our client loved the macarons as his email testimonials show:
OMG THEY ARE GOOOORGEOUSSSS…
This is soooo cool, love them…
Thank You for sharing…and well done…
They are super great Phil…so happy with them…passed them by Michael too and he likes them a lot as well…
Not that we were worried about your work as we know you are Pro but this certainly puts our minds to ease…they look very good.
Again very well done and thank you for doing this and sending over…can’t wait for summer now to put them in the windows…
🙂
Thank youuuu
Gilbert Menassa
Deputy Director Retail Merchandising
Value Retail PLC
