Abdallah chocolates
| Founded | 1909 in Minneapolis, Minnesota |
|---|---|
| Founder | Albert Abdallah |
| Headquarters | Burnsville, Minnesota |
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Key people
|
Steve Hegedus, CEO |
| Products | Fine chocolates and candies |
| Website | http://www.abdallahcandies.com |
Abdallah Candies is an historic 4th-generation, family-owned chocolatier and confectionery in Burnsville, Minnesota. It was established in Minneapolis by Lebanese immigrant Albert Abdallah and his wife of Swedish descent, Helen Trovall, as the Calhoun Candy Depot in 1909. The company was renamed Abdallah Candy Company in 1916.
In the early years, Albert made candy in a copper kettle over an open flame, working from recipes purchased from a local salesman. Over the years, Albert refined the recipes, using real cream, butter and corn syrup. His recipes for caramels, toffee, whipping cream truffles and assorted chocolates are still among the 200 recipes used by the company today.
In the 1930s, in addition to candy and ice cream, the store featured a 200-seat restaurant. In February 1935, Abdallah’s was forced into bankruptcy and closed due to the Great Depression. After two years, Albert paid back his creditors and opened a smaller store a few blocks from the original, focusing on candy and ice cream.
In 1951, Abdallah’s opened a new factory on 38th Street and Cedar Ave in Minneapolis. With this expansion, Abdallah’s began to focus on wholesale sales. Albert retired from the business in 1961, turning over the business to his son-in-law, Glenn Oletzke, married to Albert’s daughter, Marie. In 1964, a fire caused by a gasoline truck explosion outside the factory forced them to rebuild.
In 1966, Abdallah Candies opened a new facility with a gift store in Burnsville. Marie, and later her daughter, and the next generation, Vicke (Oletzke) Hegedus, operated the gift store. Glenn retired in 1974, leaving the business to his son, James, and Vicke’s husband, Stephen Hegedus. The wholesale business began to expand, first regionally, then nationwide. In 1987, James retired and Stephen asked his son, Steven Hegedus, to join the company. The younger Hegedus became president in 2002.
After expanding sales nationwide, the company needed additional space and moved to its current location in Burnsville in 1998. The company celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010, after which Stephen and Vicke retired.
Today, Abdallah Candies produces more than 20,000 pounds of candy each day. The company also sells traditional caramel apples in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area and online each September and October. Nearly 1 million caramel apples are produced during that two-month period. The company developed a caramel-apple dipping machine to replace the labor-intense, hand-dipping process. The machine coats 4,000 apples an hour.
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