Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://specialtyfoodmagazine.epubxp.com/i/691740
Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 660 chocolate trade at Barton's, a large, kosher manufacturer and retailer (which closed years ago), then struck out on their own to found The Madelaine Chocolate Company in Manhattan in 1949. They chose the name because it sounded sophisticated, not for any particular individual. At first they produced Continental- style boxed chocolates. "That wasn't going too great," says Farber. "There was so much competition in those years." In the mid-1950s, the partners noticed that foil-wrapped chocolate eggs and Santas were being imported from Europe, but there weren't many in that niche being produced domestically. They switched production to seasonal novelty items and began supplying them to mom-and-pop shops all over New York City, then nationwide, then world- wide. "That's what really gave the company a shot at its success," Farber says. The chocolate was sourced from Peter's Chocolate, founded in Switzerland and now a division of Cargill. The colorful foils for the confections came from Carcano, an Italian company established in 1880. The operation quickly grew and moved to Brooklyn, then to Rockaway Beach in 1967 where it became one of Queens' largest employers. Kaye and Gold were related through distant cousins and wed twin sisters. Kaye's daughter Vivian married Jorge Farber in producer profile Thousands of orders of Valentine hearts and other holiday candies were destroyed. 66 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com