![]() "If you look at this on paper, we should be in Mexico having this announcement," Hecht said late last month, during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Elmer plant. Michael Hecht, president and CEO of GNO Inc., said the effort to keep Elmer in Louisiana shows how the state can come together to take care of its iconic brands. To secure the project, the state offered Elmer an incentive package that includes a performance-based $550,000 Economic Development Award Program forgivable loan to cover equipment purchases, along with LED FastStart workforce training.Ĭharlie Romaine, assistant director of LED, said Elmer is "prospering better than ever before," which is quite an accomplishment for a 160-year-old business. The company started talking with Louisiana Economic Development about expanding its operations in August 2014 and announced the expansion at the end of 2014. "We believe in doing things differently and betting big on them."Įlmer embarked on a plan to build a modern manufacturing facility. "We've always been the insurgent fighting for the consumer," Nelson said. A survey of employees to discuss what terms best described Elmer Chocolate turned up phrases like "family" and "find a way to do things better" - things that aren't compatible with moving a plant out of the U.S. That wasn't part of Elmer's DNA, Nelson said. The company looked at what its competitors did, which was move candy making plants to Mexico or China. It was highly difficult to get the right employees, Nelson said. Elmer had to hire 190 to 200 seasonal employees to handle the extra work for the Valentine's Day holiday. Because the company is privately held, Elmer officials would not discuss annual sales figures.īut with the success came pressures. Elmer is the second-biggest manufacturer of heart-shaped boxes of candy in North America. "We sell 40 million of those boxes a year now," Nelson said. That allowed teachers or parents to do things like buy a box of candy for every child in an elementary school class. Instead of selling one $20 box of candy, Elmer's strategy was to sell 20 $1 boxes. That's when Nelson said the company went through a process in which it sold small, heart-shaped boxes filled with candy for $1. "That's really how most other people do it," he said.Įlmer, which started in New Orleans in 1855 and moved to Ponchatoula in 1970, didn't make a large investment in Valentine's sales until the mid-1980s. Nelson joked that the process is far beyond the classic "I Love Lucy" skit that featured Lucille Ball trying to fill boxes with chocolate but failing to keep up with the conveyor belt. Elmer chocolate full#Nelson said the plant finally started ramping up to full production over the past two months after nearly a year and half of construction. The plant held a dedication ceremony for the expansion last month. That crucial Valentine's business led Elmer to spend $40 million to expand its Ponchatoula plant, adding modern equipment manufactured all over the world. ![]() ![]() We put in a lot of work to nail it before Valentine's Day." "Seventy percent of what we make year-round sells in about a 72-hour period. "We're a Valentine's company, and with that comes challenges," Nelson said. It's actually Valentine's Day that accounts for the overwhelming majority of Elmer's business. The company's Heavenly Hash, Pecan Eggs and Gold Brick Eggs have been a staple of Easter baskets for decades.īut Easter accounts for less than 10 percent of Elmer's annual sales, said Robert Nelson, CEO of the Ponchatoula-based candy company. PONCHATOULA - For south Louisiana residents, Elmer Chocolate is synonymous with Easter. ![]()
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