TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Candy Just Dandy For A Valentine

ADVERTISEMENT

By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 13, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Buying chocolate and candy on Valentine's Day is as synonymous with the holiday as igniting fireworks on Independence Day.

In fact, local merchants say, when it comes to candy-friendly holidays, Valentine's Day is rivaled only by Christmas, Easter and Mother's Day.

In recent days, workers at Grandma's Candy Kitchen in New Port Richey were busier than Santa's helpers as they dipped Plant City strawberries in chocolate, one of the shop's popular Valentine's Day items.

The roughly 30-year-old business is on U.S. 19 in New Port Richey, just north of Main Street.

"I'm going to go through 10 flats of strawberries that you get from the market," said Kathy Koskos, owner of Grandma's Candy Kitchen.

"They're huge; 12 quarts in a flat. This is strawberry time right now. You don't normally do it all year long. Every year, people call and ask if we're going to have it.

"It's just a special thing."

Not that Americans need a special occasion to buy sweets. According to statistics compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American consumed 26 pounds of candy in 2006.

That might seem like a lot, unless you work in the confectionary industry.

"At Christmastime we went through 4,000 pounds of chocolate," Koskos said.

"I sell it in bulk. I have 2,000 molds on the wall. With the economy, customers are doing it more themselves this year. People have been buying 5- to 50-pound boxes during the holidays."

Like other local merchants, Koskos said she fills orders in the Tampa Bay area and beyond.

John Matey, who owns Chocolate Creations By Connie, with his wife, Connie, said the company ships its imported Belgian chocolate products mostly in North Tampa and Pasco County, but also has shipped orders across the United States.

The 3-year-old business is in the Grand Oaks Shopping Plaza on State Road 54 in Wesley Chapel.

"Most of our business has been on the commercial side, supplying chocolates for various country clubs," John Matey said.

"We put together a collection of hearts that they give away as favors in four-piece boxes.

"We also manufacture a line of 30 different gourmet chocolates.

"What we've done for Valentine's Day is take our standard line and incorporate into a 10-gram piece of chocolate with one of our ganaches."

Liz McComas and her husband, Joe, have run That's A Wrap from their New Port Richey home for three years. Although the couple doesn't manufacture candy, they personalize candy bar wrappers.

"Valentine's Day is a good time of the year for us, but it's not necessarily the strongest time of the year, because our stuff is so personalized," Liz McComas said.

"We do a lot of business promo items for trade shows and designs for weddings and bat mitzvahs.

"We originally started doing the 1.5-ounce Hershey bars and now do some other items. This time of year we do a lot more of the larger bars," she said. "Someone doesn't go up and just hand someone a box of 36 bars. We get a lot more calls for the 8-ounce and 1-pound bars.

"We have an agreement with Hershey that we can wrap over their products as long as we meet certain criteria," she said.

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT