Tuesday, March 18, 2008
By Don Shilling
Candy makers say they are having a good year despite the early date for Easter.
The Easter Bunny isn’t skimping on chocolate this year.
Sales of Easter candy are going strong despite a March snowstorm, possible recession and the earliest Easter in 95 years, area candy makers said.
Giannios Candy in Struthers, Gorant Candies in Boardman, Daffin’s Candies in Sharon, Pa., and Philadelphia Candies in Hermitage, Pa., say sales this season will be equal to or better than last year.
It will take some frantic last-minute shopping to get there, however.
“We’ll be extremely busy this week,” said John Giannios, owner of Giannios Candy.
With the holiday coming Sunday, area residents didn’t have time to prepare with advanced shopping, he said.
“All of sudden, the light is going off and people are saying, ‘It’s Easter,’ ” said Giannios, who runs his own retail store but also ships chocolate to 2,000 grocery stores and other retailers.
He had a much different outlook a week ago before the orders picked up. At that time, it looked like sales for the season would be down because of the snowstorm that hit the first weekend in March.
Now, he’s expecting his usual 10 percent increase in sales. The Easter season accounts for about half of the company’s annual sales.
At Gorant, sales have been strong enough that it appears candy sales may meet the company’s forecast of an increase between 5 percent and 7 percent over last year, said Jack Peluse, director of manufacturing and distribution.
Sales of some other items at the company’s stores have been soft this year as the economy slows. Chocolate, however, long has been called recession-proof within the industry, Peluse said. If people are cutting back on big-ticket items when times are tight, they want to console themselves with chocolate, he said.
Gorant operates 24 stores, including five locally, but it also produces candy for 400 American Greetings stores. Gorant, which produces more than 600,000 pounds of candy a year, is owned by American Greetings.
Connie Leon, retail manager for Daffin’s, said shoppers have returned after staying home earlier this month because of the snow.
“It’s looking very promising,” she said. This week will determine how good the season is, she said. With Easter coming early this year, she said she would be satisfied if sales volumes reached last year’s total. Daffin’s operates seven retail stores and supplies about 40 other retailers with candy.
Spyros Macris, president of Philadelphia Candies, said sales this Easter probably will be at least equal to last year. The company has two stores and also sells candy online and to wholesale accounts.
Candy makers are fighting another factor in addition to the snow and the calendar — rising chocolate prices. With the price of cocoa escalating on world markets, Giannios said his cost for buying bulk chocolate has increased by 60 percent since January 2007. The increased costs forced him to raise his retail and wholesale prices in 2006 and 2007 after five straight years of level pricing.
Giannios said he buys a custom blend of chocolate from three manufacturers and then mixes the batches to get the taste he wants.
shilling@vindy.com