How Abdallah Candies grew from mom-and-pop shop to national company
APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — Valentine's Day is just a few weeks away, and for 115 years a Twin Cities company has been a candy and chocolate go-to.
In this week's Finding Minnesota, how Abdallah grew from a mom-and-pop shop into a national candy company.
"One of the things we're doing is cashew Grizzlies, so we've made caramel," said Steve Hegedus.
At Abdallah Candies in Apple Valley, January is go-time.
"This is milk chocolate, butter-almond crunch," said Hegedus.
Their chocolate lab has invented 200 different types of candy, and their chocolate factory is busy pumping them out. They call it "organized candy chaos."
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"We are working overtime. We have people here. We are trying to get orders out to all our customers and make sure they are happy," said Ryan Hegedus with Abdallah Candies.
All before Feb. 14.
"Seeing a lot of heart shapes every day, and during the day, and in your sleep," said Jason Hegedus with Abdallah Candies.
The heart-shaped dreams Jason and Ryan are having are all thanks to the American dream their ancestors had.
"My great grandpa was an immigrant from Lebanon. He married my great grandmother, and she was from Sweden," said Steve Hegedus. He's Abdallah's CEO and Jason and Ryan's dad.
Great Grandpa Albert was the one with the sweet tooth. After learning about cocoa and sugar from local salesmen, the couple set up shop on Hennepin and Lake Street in 1909. Their chocolate was an instant hit.
And as the company grew, they needed more space. So, over the years, five generations have moved from Minneapolis to Burnsville, and now Apple Valley, where they have 160 employees with very specific job titles.
"Manufacturing confectioner," said Steve Hegedus.
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When you've made a living out of assorted chocolates, truffles, and white pretzels you get creative along the way.
A family member invented a tool called a "stringer," which puts the ripples on top of chocolate.
But many things, like the decorations on the orange creams, are still done by hand.
Abdallah's will sell anywhere from 1.5 to 2 million pounds of candy during the Valentine's Day season.
This family doesn't believe in Golden Ticket luck. Instead, they credit their employees and ancestors for what they have today.
"It's challenging. I know working with the family business can be the best of times and the worst of times but we get through it and we are a strong family and we look forward to continuing that into the future," said Ryan Hegedus.
It can take Abdallah several years to perfect a new type of chocolate. They said Christmas is actually their biggest holiday and they sell up to 6 million pounds of chocolate during that season.