Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/1492094
10 n e w h a v e n B I Z | F e b r u a r y 2 0 2 3 | n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m By Jean Falbo-Sosnovich F or nearly 60 years, Fascia's Chocolates has been making life sweeter for Connecticut residents. And with Valentine's Day right around the corner, the Waterbury-based chocolatier is busier than Willie Wonka, handcraing handmade batches of chocolate-dipped strawberries, peanut butter cups, heart-shaped lollipops, and of course, heart-shaped candy boxes, filled with decadent confections made right on the premises. Located in a 19,000-square-foot factory at 44 Chase River Rd. in Water- bury, which includes a retail store, the family-owned and operated business is still making chocolate the old-fash- ioned way in copper kettles and cooled on marble slabs. e Fascia's Chocolates story didn't begin in a big factory. It was born out of the basement of the Waterbury home of Fascia's founders and longtime sweet- hearts John and Helen Fascia. In 1964, John Fascia, a toolmaker, and his wife were expecting their first child. To supplement their income, the couple began roasting nuts, and selling them at John's workplace. Soon aer, they added chocolate to the mix, and the rest, as they say it, is history. e family basement served as a cooking area and small store up until the late 1970s, when Fascia's opened its first retail store on Meriden Road in Waterbury. e 600-square-foot store wasn't big enough to make the chocolate, so the couple and their three daughters, Louise, Lynn and Laurie, continued to whip up batches at home. In 1985, Fascia's moved out of the basement into its first production facil- ity with an expanded retail storefront on Wolcott Street in Waterbury. e company made a couple more moves over the years, and ultimately landed at its current sweet spot on Chase River Road in 2013, where now three gener- ations of the Fascia family continue to carry on the candy-making legacy. Today, John and Helen Fascia, now in their 80s, are mostly retired, as they come to the factory two or three days a week. eir son-in-law Carmen Romeo, Fascia's president and husband of the Fascia's first-born daughter Louise, is working alongside the family and 34 full-and part-time and seasonal em- ployees to ensure the Fascia's heritage continues to grow. "I didn't intend to come into the family business, but my in-laws were in a position where they needed help and Chocolate Destination Candy-maker welcomes tourists as it eyes growth, bigger clientele B i z S p o t l i g h t Fascia's Chocolates President Carmen Romeo posed with a box of the company's candy. PHOTOS | JEAN FALBO-SOSNOVICH