Sweets companies face crowds for Valentine’s Day

By Harry Loomis

Every Valentines Day, millions decide to get a special someone a sweet treat.

Whether it’s a spouse, significant other, friend or family member, chocolate and other treats are among the most common Valentine’s Day presents.

Local shops and bakeries know the rush they’re going to get every year on Feb. 14 and some start preparations over a month in advance.

“Every week we try to do as much prep as we can,” said Niki Longers, owner of Love & Frosting Bakeshop. “We have a very small staff and very small space, so we try to do as much as we can, but it’s always really busy in the days leading up to today.”

One of the most common sweets for Valentine’s Day is chocolate-covered strawberries, which take time to prepare. For an already-busy company, it’s hard to find enough hours in the day.

“I purchased 250 pounds of strawberries for just for Valentine’s Day and the orders the day before as well,” said Dana Long, general manager of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in St. Joseph. “It’s been a pretty labor intensive few days.”

This year’s Valentines Day comes on Ash Wednesday, where many Christians abstain from eating outside their three square meals. This hasn’t changed sales much this year.

“I actually had an order for a customer who was doing Ash Wednesday today and they did theirs yesterday,” Long said. “(Some) order their strawberries a day ahead and picked them up yesterday and they celebrated a day early.

Even though it’s hard work during this time of year, there’s nothing like sweets to put a smile on someone’s face.

“Everything that we make is from scratch,” Longers said. “So we just have a lot of loyal customers that like the flavors that we offer and they know that the anything that they come in by is going to taste amazing.”