Vancouver Island University students are making the world's largest Nanaimo bar
The sweet treat will be unveiled to the public at noon on Saturday, and is expected to be 21.3 meters long, 0.9 meters wide and weigh nearly 500 kilograms.
Aron Weber, chair of the professional baking and pastry arts program with VIU, says students got the idea a few years ago when they were brainstorming ways to generate publicity and excitement for a business.
Weber says they looked up world records and found that the largest Nanaimo bar was made by a family in Ontario, and considering the B.C. city has so much pride around the bar, it inspired the students to bring the record home.
The current Guinness World Record for the largest Nanaimo bar was set in 2020 by a chocolatier from Levack, Ontario, with a 240-kilogram bar.
Weber says it's like a dream come true that students and faculty are working together to create the largest bar, which will be on display at Windsor Plywood Trades Discovery Centre on campus and later cut into thousands of pieces to share with the public.
The goal of the event is more than just setting a new world record. It will also raise money to buy new ovens for the university's culinary arts and professional baking and pastry arts programs, since the current ovens are nearing the end of their lifespans.
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The record will be certified by two national organizations that represent VIU Trades students: the Baking Association of Canada and the Culinary Federation of Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May, 17, 2025.
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