Sat Nov 07 2009
By JACK PALMER
Chocolate is the best food to make a woman smile, according to a group of Dutch scientists.
Especially on Valentine's Day.
"People may be buying smaller this year, but they are still buying," reported chocolatier Nancy Bontrager of Stella Leona Artisan Chocolates in Pettisville. "A box of chocolates for Valentine's Day is pretty much a recession-proof product."
"Christmas is our busiest time, but we sell a lot of candy for Valentine's Day," said Brent Taylor, co-owner of Al-Meda Chocolates in Archbold. "Much of our business is taken over the phone or via fax machine."
Al-Meda's assorted chocolate boxes include a little bit of everything: coconut, vanilla, lemon and maple cremes, mint patties, peanut clusters, caramels, crunchies and the company's famous "chocolate stix" -- a toffee-like delicacy with fresh-roasted nuts, coated with the purest natural chocolate.
"It's our most popular item," said Taylor. "It's Almeda Rupp's own special recipe dating back to the 1920s. Our chocolate stix bits and pieces are used by Homestead Ice Cream Co. (formerly Nafziger's) in their black swamp flavor of ice cream."
The chocolates are made fresh by Taylor's wife, Diane, and her staff, without the use of preservatives. During December, the business ships around 200 boxes of candy per day all over the country and the world.
Stella Leona, which opened two years ago, features assorted chocolates, truffles, caramels, hand-painted pastries and chocolates, toffee, pretzels, nuts, hot chocolate and gifts.
"The most popular items at Valentine's Day are the chocolate heart boxes -- and anything with red," said Bontrager. "The edible containers are a neat feature. It's one of the few gifts when you can eat the box."
Another popular item is the artisan's choice box, which comes in four or 12 pieces. Each features four delicious hand-painted flavors in equal amounts -- raspberry dark, orange milk, banana cream cheesecake and key lime.
"Most men come in alone, but they often ask for suggestions for a Valentine's Day gift," said Bontrager. "If they come in with their significant other, I watch her for nonverbal communication and try to secretly communicate to him what I think she likes.
"The key to buying any gift is knowing what the recipient likes," she added.
Bontrager developed her taste for exceptional chocolate as a child.
"I remember my father bringing home fine European chocolates he had gathered on business trips abroad," she said. "As I grew, so did my love affair with chocolate and I began to create my own recipes for friends and family."
Her grandmother, Leona, and her sister, Estella, inspired the company name and her love for life, family and baking.
The history of Al-Meda Chocolates dates back 75 years to the Fulton County village of Elmira. Almeda Rupp, an outstanding cook, began formulating chocolate recipes into her most taste-tempting creations. Word spread throughout the area and soon she was delivering her hand-dipped chocolates door-to-door and building an ever-expanding customer list.
A short time later the business moved three miles south to Archbold and in 1931 the Rupp family began making chocolates in a cottage near Petoskey in northern Michigan. Prosperous customers persuaded the family to extend the business to Florida, where many wintered in Palm Beach County. Both the northern Michigan and Florida locations were maintained until 1983.
"Diane and I purchased the business in 1988," said Taylor. "I'm actually a distant cousin on the Rupp side of the family."
As a boy he remembers his grandfather, Orrin Taylor, purchasing a two-pound box of Al-Meda assorted dark chocolates every Christmas.
"It was always a special treat," he said. "Now we actually sell more dark chocolate than milk chocolate. Most serious chocolate lovers prefer the dark. Some don't event want a single piece of the milk chocolate in their box."
Al-Meda Chocolates, located at County Road E (just west of the intersection of Ohio's 66 and 2), is open today until 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 10:30-3:30 p.m.
Stella Leona, located at 362 Main St. in Pettisville, is open today until 5:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m.
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