Sarris makes 50,000 pounds of chocolate per day to prepare for holiday season
CANONSBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- Walking around the Sarris facility in Canonsburg, it is kind of hard to fathom just how large an operation this family-owned business has. Starting from humble beginnings back in 1960, Sarris has grown into the sixth-largest producer of chocolate-covered salted items in the nation, with distribution from coast to coast.
All of their chocolate is made fresh from scratch, mostly in their Canonsburg facility. They employ over 400 people.
Everyone KDKA-TV spoke with Thursday was proud to work for the company, with some employees being there 30 to 40 years. And the consensus among everyone KDKA-TV spoke with was that it would be hard to work in a chocolate factory and not enjoy what you do. After all, as many people said, they are in the "happy business."
Norm Candelor, the VP of vendor relations for Sarris, says that they are normally busy, but during Christmastime, things really ramp up.
"We do about 50,000 pounds of chocolate per day," said Candelor. "And that is already accounted for and sold. That is already going on the shelf somewhere or into somebody's home. Christmas is a really great season because it is a gifting season. People are buying more, bigger items, buying more assortments, buying boxed chocolates. They are giving. So, it is a very big opportunity for us, but also, it's a very big opportunity for a customer to give to somebody they like or love something really great, something really sweet."
While Sarris is fulfilling many holiday orders for thousands of distributors, corporate clients and individuals, the company works months ahead and right now, Christmas is almost in the rearview mirror and Sarris has already begun work on their second busiest season, Valentine's Day and Easter.
No matter what the season is though, Candelor says the number one seller for Sarris is always the same: the chocolate-covered pretzels.
"The top seller all the time is 8 oz. pretzels, 8 oz. pretzel box is always the top seller throughout the whole year," said Candelor.
Again, there are thousands of distributors you can get Sarris Candies from, but if you are looking for a fun family outing this holiday season, you might want to stop by their factory store in Canonsburg. They have everything from individual candies for stocking stuffers, to a 5-pound chocolate Santa, and of course, they have boxes and boxes of chocolate-covered pretzels.
For more information on Sarris Candies, click here.
