The Elmer Candy Company has pleased New Orleans sweet tooths for nearly 150 years.
By Denise Trowbridge, New Orleans CityLife, April 2004
It’s bunny season in New Orleans, and chances are you’ve already sunk your teeth into an Elmer’s Gold Brick or Heavenly Hash chocolate egg. These seasonal favorites — along with peanut butter and pecan eggs — have been a staple in Southern Easter baskets for nearly a century. And if the continuing growth of the Elmer Candy Company is any indication, they will be well into the future.
"I’m always surprised by how much demand there is for our Easter candy," says Rob Nelson, Elmer’s current vice president and chief operating officer. He says Louisiana residents anxiously await the last week of February, when Elmer’s Easter candy appears on store shelves. "Many people go out and immediately buy a year’s supply. They keep it in the freezer so they can have it all year long."
With so many dedicated customers, it’s no surprise that the company has expanded three times in the last 10 years. Nelson attributes much of their success to tradition. "People have grown up with our candy," he says. "Southerners are big fans of family tradition."
And Elmer’s, founded in 1855, takes tradition to heart. Nelson is the third-generation of his family to take the helm of the burgeoning candy business based in Ponchatoula, 50 miles northwest of New Orleans. He also notes that Elmer’s is the oldest family-owned chocolate candy company in the United States. But the company that now has 300,000 square feet of factory and warehouse space, distribution through major retailers in all 50 states, as well as in Canada and Mexico, and produces up to 120,000 pounds of chocolates each day, had a humble beginning far from the quiet streets of Louisiana’s strawberry capital.
Christopher Henry Miller came to New Orleans by boat in 1845. A 16-year-old German immigrant, Miller was enamored with the city the moment he laid eyes on it — he marveled at the site of hundreds of vessels carrying goods to thousands of ports all over the world. It was the height of New Orleans’ Antebellum-period affluence, when the city was the United States’ second largest port and thousands of ships docked here, transporting everything from cotton, coffee and sugar to luxury goods.
Miller, like many of the city’s immigrants, was confident that he would make his fortune in New Orleans. He took a job as a baker’s assistant in a French Quarter pastry shop. At night, Miller studied English and walked through the Garden District marveling at the ornate mansions wealthy businesspeople were constructing.
Ten years after he first set foot on the pier, he became a U.S. citizen, married Mary Wetzel and opened the Miller Candy Company on the corner of Jackson and New Levee streets, where the Texaco building now stands in the Central Business District.
Over the next 45 years, the Millers developed a reputation for high-quality candy making. They had 13 children —11 of them daughters — and when it came time to pass the company to the next generation, Miller chose his favorite son-in-law, Augustus Elmer, for the job.
In 1902, Elmer changed the name to the Miller-Elmer Candy Company, and then in 1914 simply to the Elmer Candy Company. Under his tutelage, the company grew from a single New Orleans candy store into a sweets empire with several factories Uptown and distribution throughout the South. And for more than 60 years after, Elmer’s hand made many of the treats locals remember fondly even today — coconut haystacks, Heavenly Hash, mint bubblets and, of course, Gold Brick eggs.
Introduced in 1936, the Gold Brick — a confection with a "melt-away" filling of pecans and chocolate — was only the first of the Elmer Company’s many sweet innovations. In the 1940s, they invented the first ice-cream topping that became a solid "shell" — think Magic Shell — when poured over ice cream. The Elmer family also claims to have invented the world’s first cheese curl, later made popular nationally under such brand names as Cheetos. Their brand, Chee Weez, is still manufactured today by a member of the Elmer family by the Elmer’s Fine Foods Company in New Orleans.
The Elmer family left the candy business in the 1960s when Nelson’s grandfather, Roy Nelson, acquired the company. During the elder Nelson’s tenure, the candy business changed dramatically. "In the ‘70s and ‘80s, candy went from a regional to a national business," Rob Nelson says. "We knew that if we wanted to stay in business, we had to be able to mass produce candy and distribute it nationally."
In order to stay competitive, they moved all of their manufacturing facilities to Ponchatoula and made a decision that still upsets some candy fans today — they stopped making many of their original candies, including pralines and coconut haystacks. "We were a jack-of-all-trades candy company for years," Nelson says. "But we knew we wouldn’t be able to compete nationally as a generalist. We had to specialize and master something." That something was holiday candy.
While locals lament the loss of mint bubblets — Nelson says it is the No.1 requested item by long-time Elmer’s fans — the company has mastered the art of boxed specialty candies for holidays such as Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter.
Valentine’s Day is their biggest holiday. Elmer’s is the No. 2 seller of heart-shaped boxes of Valentine candy nationwide — behind Russel Stovers — claiming 70 percent of the market for items costing less than $2. They do make more expensive boxes, but affordability is a part of the Elmer’s philosophy. "You certainly can walk into a department store and spend $40 on a box of chocolates," Nelson says. "But we provide a good quality product that everyone can afford. You shouldn’t have to spend an entire paycheck for a treat."
Elmer’s has developed an unusual reputation for luxury, too. Last year, Gucci ordered thousands of pounds of Elmer’s custom-made Valentine conversation hearts to decorate a runway during a fashion show in Milan, Italy. They laid them on the catwalk then covered it in Plexiglas so the models could walk over them. "I think I’m the only candy maker who can say that his candy has been walked on by the world’s top models," Nelson says with a laugh.
Elmer’s has also cornered the market on Easter sweets. The top three sellers during the Easter season between Beaumont, Texas, and Mobile, AL — Gold Brick, Heavenly Hash and Pecan egg 6-packs — are all Elmer’s products. "The Gulf South is one of the largest Easter markets in the country, " Nelson says. "We buy more Easter candy here than in any other area of the United States." Governor Blanco even handed out Gold Brick eggs to native Louisiana troops stationed in Iraq during her visit in February.
Closer to home in Ponchatoula, Elmer’s does more than just fill boxes with strawberry cremes and bite-size caramels. It is the largest employer in the area, with 285 year-round full-time employees, a number that swells to more than 400 during the busy season from May to November. Elmer’s is a philanthropic force, too. They recently donated the land, as well as a substantial portion of the funding, to build Ponchatoula’s new public library. "The library is something everyone can enjoy. It benefits everyone, especially in the summer time," Nelson says. "They have great programs for the kids."
Elmer’s also hosts Easter egg hunts and partners with various charities. Nelson says that is one small way Elmer’s can repay the town’s residents for their loyalty as customers and employees. Many staff members have worked for Elmer’s for more than 30 years, one reason why Elmer’s is dedicated to Ponchatoula and Louisiana. "Every time we want to expand, other states try to persuade us to leave," he adds. "But we owe our success to the people who have been loyal to this company, so we are absolutely dedicated to staying in Louisiana."
And to meet the needs of another group of dedicated people — Louisiana residents who have moved out of the area and can’t find their favorite Elmer’s items on store shelves in their new hometowns — Nelson has set up a Web site. Now, they can logon and order seasonal candies, custom-printed conversation hearts and Gold Brick ice cream topping. "Our fans get really upset when they can’t get our candy," he says. "We want to keep them happy."
Although Elmer’s won’t reveal sales figures, it’s constant growth and bustling candy lines are evidence that the company is thriving. And business is doubly sweet for the Nelson family. "I eat candy everyday," Nelson says. "I’ll never get tired of it."
And new trends toward diets and weight loss, Nelson says, haven’t slowed Elmer’s down. "Luckily, giving someone a gift of diet chocolate is considered offensive," Nelson says. "It won’t get you very far on Valentine’s Day."
And on Easter? "No one wants a sugar-free Gold Brick egg," he says. "They want the real thing."
