Sconza Chocolates celebrates 85 years. Take an inside look at its sweet success
Inside Look is a Modesto Bee series where we take readers behind the scenes at restaurants, new businesses, local landmarks and news stories.
As Sconza Chocolates prepares to celebrate 85 years in business, we took an inside look at the Oakdale factory with CEO Ron Sconza and his wife, Margie.
It all started in 1922 when Vincenzo Sconza arrived at Ellis Island with $22 and a dream to make candy. He settled in Oakland and by 1939 had developed his first candy, a peanut brittle. It became so popular that he was able to quit his job at a pasta factory to pursue candymaking full time. Three generations later, his grandson Ron Sconza and his family continue the legacy.
“We had been in Oakland for 69 years and we came out here in 2008 and moved into this huge space. Fast forward, we’re now 85 years old and about to celebrate our 16th year here in Oakdale.
The company is more than six times the size of what it was when we moved in. So it’s done everything that we hoped it would do for us. It’s been a wonderful community. We’re very very proud to be here. Love it here and the people are incredible,” Sconza said.
Perhaps it was fate when Hershey Chocolates decided to leave the area in 2008 and move production to Mexico. Sconza recalls looking for places to build a new factory for the rapidly expanding business when he heard about the sale in Oakdale.
When the purchase was announced, Sconza committed to hiring former Hershey employees, a few of whom still work there today. With 250 employees, it was remarkable to see Ron and Margie greet every employee by name as we went from room to room of the factory.
“Our employees make the magic here. Every one of the billions of pieces of candy that we make here is touched by the people on our team. It’s very different than, you know, chocolate companies that just push a start button. All of our candy is batch-crafted. There are people that have been here for 40 years and they really are an extension of our family,” Sconza said.
The commitment to artisan candymaking is evident in many of the processes still in use since 1939.
Copper cookers that were once used by Vincenzo are fired at high temperatures to caramelize sugar on nuts. The aroma in this room is heavenly, bested only by the taste of the fresh hot peanut covered in a crunchy coating as it came off the line.
The factory had to be completely renovated to accommodate the types of candy Sconza produces.
Sconza explained, “In Sconza’s DNA, we’re really a pan candy company.” Panning refers to covering items like nuts, fruits, soft caramel centers or other ingredients in chocolate, sugar and hard candy shells, among other processes.
To get a sense of the volume, each pan holds about 500 pounds of product, and there are 200 pans over eight rooms. Jordan almonds, Boston baked beans and M&M-style candies are some of the popular pan candies that Sconza produces.
Working with local farmers, Sconza uses local materials to produce candy and roasts nuts in-house. By doing this, Sconza can control the flavor profiles to perfect the blend when coated with chocolate. “About 95% of our ingredients are grown within 100 miles,” Ron Sconza said. The factory produces many candies with fruit and nut centers, most procured right in the Central Valley.
Margie Sconza explained that Sconza-branded products account for a small percentage of the business. The majority of their products are private label, which means the factory produces candy for other candy companies and big-box stores. Some of your favorite candies are likely made in Oakdale and sold all over the country as popular favorites whose names cannot be disclosed for proprietary reasons.
As the company grows, Ron Sconza added that a commitment to sustainability is a core value. In partnership with the University of San Francisco School of Engineering, students visit every few years to conduct an assessment and offer solutions to minimize the environmental impact. Sourcing locally, adhering to clean air emissions standards, recycling all plastics and corrugated materials, and recycling water for local crop irrigation are some of the practices that help to reduce their carbon footprint.
Sconza also highlighted its new boiler system, which was installed just last year to replace a traditional system that produced 80,000 pounds of steam per hour. The new boilers are connected and can ramp up and down when steam is needed, reducing the energy output.
Ron Sconza said they hope to one day have a gift shop, but for now, their products can be purchased in Save Mart, Raley’s and other local retailers They also sell all their available varieties online.
There are around 20 Sconza candy products, the majority of which are dark and milk chocolate coated. Varieties include Dark Chocolate Coffee Caramels, Milk Chocolate Coconut Cashews, Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Caramels, Honey Toffee Milk Chocolate Roasted Pecans and Chocolate Mint Cookie Bites created after Ron and Margie Sconza’s daughter aged out of the Girl Scouts and inspired them to create a Thin Mints cookie type confection enjoyed outside of cookie season.
Showcasing their flavored and colored chocolate technique, Sconza Thins are almonds enrobed in either strawberry or lemon, yogurt and cream. Sconza added that the Limoncello Chocolate Almonds, a roasted almond covered in white chocolate and lemon cream, are their best seller.
Reflecting on 85 years, Sconza is proud of the legacy they have built and credits Oakdale with being essential to that success.
“We love being in this community. We have been fortunate that we have great tenure here and I’m proud to try to create a great place for them to work that’s really important to us. We want their experience here to be a really good one. We are growing, we are hiring, we are always looking for great people,” said Ron Sconza.
