New Orleans candy fills Valentine void
NEW ORLEANS—Cherie Melancon Franz and her husband, Arthur, have turned a playful conversation into a mini Valentine’s Day sensation with NOLA Talks Candy Hearts, sweet treats emblazoned with New Orleans-themed humor.
The candy creations are in response to the news that broke in late January that the popular NECCO SweetHearts heartshaped message candies would be scarce this February.
“I read NECCO wouldn’t be producing the SweetHearts candy and I thought out loud: ‘I can believe no one has made New Orleans-themed ones,’” Cherie Melancon Franz said.
She and her husband started batting sayings back and forth. Things like “Po-boy meets girl,” ”Me plus you = my favorite krewe,” ”Will you beignet mine,” ”504 ever yours” and “I got roux, babe.”
After the conversation, Franz slept on the idea one night and then jumped on Google to locate companies that print words on food. Within days, she had negotiated the best price and production schedule possible, decided on packaging 20 to 22 hearts in cellophane bags for $5 apiece and found a couple of vendors. She called on a dozen friends and family to help package the hearts.
“The first 10,000 sold out in 23 hours,” she said of the candies, which she advertised on Facebook.
Her packaging team will be back again for more bagging because Franz, who owns Thinkerella, an after-school and special events business that teaches children about math and science, has bought about 20,000 more candies.
“We’ll just have cocktails and bag candy,” she said of the fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants business.
The candies will be available through the Thinkerella office at 260 Hickory Ave. in Harahan. She encourages potential buyers to visit her Facebook page or the Thinkerella website to find out when.
This week, the candy will be at Little Miss Muffin, 766 Harrison Ave., Lakeview. She’s shipping the candies out of town as well.
Franz’s business opportunity came after NECCO of Massachusetts, the maker of the 153-year-old heart-shaped SweetHearts, with sayings like “Kiss Me,” ”Say Yes,” and “Be Mine,” went out of business in 2018.
SweetHearts may be back, however, because NECCO sold its brands to a number of candy companies, including selling SweetHearts to Spangler Candy of Ohio. The Spangler website says: “Look for announcements to learn when these products become available!”