Surviving in the candy business isn't just about being good. Music: Chris Tomlin plots 'Good Friday Worldwide' broadcast concertĮlmer picked three of the seasons, making boxed chocolates for Christmas and Valentine's Day, and their Heavenly Hash Eggs, Gold Brick Eggs and Pecan Eggs for Easter. Streaming: Carrie Underwood to perform Easter livestream concert at the Ryman Or else we're going to be done," Nelson said about the thinking behind the company's decision. "We've got to be good at something and be good at one thing. ![]() And in the candy business, the seasons are Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Easter. Elmer decided to drop the many common candies, focus and take a seasonal approach. In the 1980s, the candy business was changing. On the table was a bowl of untempered chocolate discs, and he snapped one up and ate it before talking.Įlmer was once a general line candy company, making everything from jelly beans to pralines. He sat down in the company's conference room, which hadn't been redecorated in decades, to tell Elmer's history. Nelson, 54 but with a boyish glow, is now the CEO. Rob Nelson's great-grandfather bought Elmer Chocolate in 1963 from the Elmer family. Candies like Polar, Love Nest, Big Alarm and Old King Tut wouldn't bring even a flicker of recognition if you traveled too far from their factories. ![]() (Gold Brick came later, in 1936, daring to sell for 10-cents when other bars were a nickel.)īy necessity, sweets used to be regional, because chocolate couldn't travel far in the days before refrigerated transport. The Golden Age of candy bars were the years between World War I and the Great Depression, says Steve Almond in his book "Candy Freak." Roughly 30,000 brands were introduced, among them Heavenly Hash in 1923. ![]() That's not lean manufacturing," Kimmerle said. "Can you imagine bringing in all the ingredients to make a hundred different types of candy. Today the company, one of the last family-run candy makers in the South, says its Heavenly Hash, Pecan Eggs and Gold Brick Eggs, introduced in the early decades of the 20th century, outsell all other Easter candies from Beaumont, Texas, to Mobile, Ala. Growing up in New Orleans, Easter for Kathy Cunningham McKoin meant Heavenly Hash, a core of marshmallow fluff studded with almonds and covered in chocolate, Pecan Eggs, bricks of sticky nougat rolled in caramel and chopped pecans, and crinkly foil packets with Gold Brick pecan “melt-a-ways.” Not until she got to college did McKoin learn that other kids’ baskets were filled with Hershey’s, Reese’s and the same candies sold year round at groceries and drug stores.Įlmer Chocolate, in Ponchatoula, La., about an hour from New Orleans, makes all those Easter sweets that McKoin grew up on and now buys for her own kids. The pandemic did not impact production & distribution of Easter candy, which was already complete by February of that year. Editor's note : This story was originally published in April 2020.
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