High-end treateries cashing in on Easter candy craze

McClatchy Newspapers (MCT) - With Easter a couple of weeks away, high-end chocolate shops hope to cash in on the country's candy craze.

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There's good reason for confectioners to invest in items such as fancy candy "nests", chocolate-dipped Peeps, and edible Easter baskets.

Chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, candy creme-filled eggs and marshmallow bunnies or chicks are the most popular Easter items, according to a recent survey by the National Confectioners Association. It also predicts that sales of all types of Easter candy will reach $1.99 billion _ higher than last year's actual sales of $1.85 billion.

One of the reasons? As the economy drags, financial stresses prompt a need for something sweet.

"A little bit of indulgence is an affordable treat," says Susan Smith, spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association. "While it's not entirely recession proof, it's more recession proof than other consumable products."

Candy fever has gripped the whole country. Last week, the New York Times reported tales of worry and candy cravings in Chicago, San Francisco and Manhattan. Dylan Lauren, founder and chief executive officer of Dylan's Candy Bar in New York, told Neil Cavuto of Fox News that Easter and Passover sales are "like Christmas right now."

And candy manufacturers are doing well. The Times points out that Nestle's profits rose 10.9 percent in 2008. Cadbury's profits jumped 30 percent last year.

Sweet City Chocolates in Fresno, Calif., tucks jelly beans into birds' nests made of vanilla-flavored white chocolate and coconut. Bouquet of Fruits in Fresno dips marshmallow Peeps in chocolate. Stafford's Famous Chocolates in Porterville, Calif., is molding chocolate into bunnies, lambs and chicks. And Reimer's Candies & Gifts in Three Rivers, Calif., has edible chocolate baskets _ complete with fried eggs made of white chocolate.

At Reimer's in Three Rivers, sales overall have been up this year, and customers already are placing Easter orders, says co-owner Mary Anne Bretz.

In addition to the chocolate baskets and white-chocolate fried eggs, the selection includes bunnies and chicks molded from solid dark, milk and white chocolate; boxed chocolates with Easter bows; sugar eggs; Jordan almonds; and jelly beans.

"It's just a little bit of everything that makes it all successful," Bretz says about the holiday.

It's not quite like Christmas, though. For Reimer's, Easter is the fourth-biggest holiday of the year behind Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day.

But not all local, higher-end shops have rising sales. Sales at Sweet City Chocolates are lower than in 2006, when owner Linda Dawson launched the store. Though worried customers are coming to the shop at Champlain Drive and Perrin Avenue, the prices may stop them from bingeing.

For example, Dawson no longer makes chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs or large Easter baskets. Sweet City is in the same shopping center as a Save Mart, and parents can get these items cheaper at the supermarket, she says.

Instead, she focuses on specialty items, such as the white-chocolate nests and double-stuffed Oreo cookies on sticks. The Oreo cookies are dipped in chocolate, then decorated with sugar images of chicks, rabbits, and Easter eggs.

They're a hit with grandparents because "they're nice, kiddie little things," Dawson says.

She does see more women looking for a stress release.

"One woman came in and she was so angry that her face was red," Dawson says. "She said, 'I need chocolate.' ... I said, 'Which one would you like?' And she said, 'Just pick one.'"

The cause of this customer's fury? The cost of postage had just gone up, causing the mailing price for her package to jump, Dawson says.

Stafford's in Porterville also has seen more stressed out customers, says co-owner Zack Stafford, but sales haven't jumped because of the recession.

Stafford sells higher-end, specialty products. "I think (customers) have to have a little bit of expendable money," Stafford says.

Still, sensing opportunity, the company is expanding its Easter offering on its Web site, staffordsfamouschocolates.com. In recent weeks, Stafford's has been molding chocolate into various shapes, including eggs filled with peanut butter, bunnies sitting atop eggs and bunny heads on a stick.

The shop also is decorating its popular ooey gooey bars _ housemade marshmallows covered with peanut butter, caramel, chocolate and crushed almonds _ with Easter-themed sugar decorations.

Bouquet of Fruits also is expanding its Easter treats. In addition to the chocolate-covered Peeps and bunny-shaped boxes of white chocolate filled with jelly beans, it's pushing items such as chocolate-covered strawberries and candied apples covered in caramel, chocolate and pastel-colored M&M's.

There's also a treat that is extremely limited: a hand-painted chocolate egg that contains two or three chocolate-dipped strawberries. Customers must order that item at least 10 days in advance, says Bouquet of Fruits owner Stephen Paul. Call (559) 320-9135 for more information.

"You might as well make it semi healthy and get fruit with it," Paul says. "It's half the guilt and more of the pleasure."

Bouquet of Fruits isn't banking on Easter alone to boost sales. For the first time, the company created a spring catalog that covers Easter, Administrative Professional's Day and Mother's Day.

"Those are all big events," Paul says. "Now is the time to be proactive. With the economy, you've got to get out there more than ever and promote yourself."

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© 2009, The Fresno Bee (Fresno, Calif.).