GLENDALE, AZ (AZFamily) — Just in time for Halloween, one Arizona family is proving you can shop local for trick-or-treat — and taste nearly 60 years of history while you do it.
Cerreta Candy Co. has been making chocolate and candy in the desert since 1968, when the family patriarch, Jim Cerreta Sr., drove across America in a station wagon with his eight kids to start a candy factory in Glendale.
He learned the trade from his father-in-law in Canton, Ohio. The family followed relatives — the Coyles, who were making ice cream in the desert — west to Arizona.
Now in its fourth generation of candy makers, the family still plays with chocolate every day.
Tony Cerreta grew up working alongside his grandpa, aunts, uncles and cousins. He started standing on milk crates on the line, drizzling chocolate for decorations. His cousin, AZFamily’s own Jaime Cerreta, he jokes, was usually busy stealing candy off the line and running away.
Their hands-down bestseller remains the French Mint — green on the outside, chocolate on the inside — created by his grandfather for his grandmother, Marisa Cerreta.
Other favorites include peanut clusters, peanut butter pizzazz — Jaime’s favorite — and peanut butter brittle.
For the family, making candy in Arizona is about more than chocolate. Most employees are local families, many who started as kids and worked through college. Customers, employees and owners share deep Arizona heritage.
“It’s just my family. It’s so blessed to be a part of the family,” Tony said, getting emotional describing how chocolate brings comfort during hardship, excitement during celebrations, and memories of sitting with grandparents.
Tony said family-run businesses, like Cerreta Candy Co., are the backbone of Arizona’s food story — growing with the Valley from desert to highways and houses, while passing down skills, jobs and tradition in a way big-box stores can’t.
His advice to the next chocolatier: “Find your passion and work hard. If you care, you’re going to be successful.”
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Dining and Cooking