Cerreta Candy Co.

Between marshmallow fights and perfecting their famous French mint chocolates, the Cerreta family knows how to keep a business alive — even 57 years after its founding.

Tony Cerreta (pictured), who’s the president of Cerreta Candy Co. and grandson of founder Jim Cerreta, grew up in the company’s factory. By age 12, he was behind the counter decorating candy, and by 22, he was a full-time employee.

“For my first 15 years in the factory,” he says, “I’d come to work and get to be with a different uncle on a different project. At that time, I was mostly in the chocolate world.”

Since the company opened in 1968, the family’s handmade chocolates have been among their most popular candies. Other products include toffee, cashew and peanut brittles, kettle corn and taffy; the latter comes in Arizona-inspired flavors such as prickly pear and saguaro blossom.

With his school located just around the corner from the factory, Tony’s childhood revolved around sugar. “After school, I’d walk over to the factory and work for a few hours,” he says. “And not that I ever got in trouble [at school], but if I did, my dad would pick me up and I’d go play with chocolate with my uncles and grandpa.”

What’s “worse,” he had to “endure” the factory marshmallow fights. Throughout the store, hand-drawn on the walls, are characters that represent the different members of the Cerreta family, any one of whom may have thrown the first marshmallow on any given day.

“I’d be in the back working somewhere, and I’d get hit in the back of the head with a marshmallow,” Tony recalls. But the fights didn’t last long, because the crew was busy making, packing and selling the candy, as well as providing tours for visitors seeking a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into running a candy factory.

Factory employee Lori Medina says tour groups have been huge recently and that tours have increased in popularity since the pandemic. Medina has worked for the company for about three years; she helps package the candy and works with customers at the front of the store.

Currently, Cerreta Candy Co. provides tours Mondays through Fridays at staggered times throughout the day. Along the way, visitors can see how different types of candies are made and try a few pieces themselves.

Turns out, it’s not just visitors who love the candy. Despite being around the product every day, many employees still can’t resist.

“We try not to eat any candy until the end of the day — otherwise, we’d be snacking all day long,” Tony says. “But if you’re hungry and on the floor, we just grab a piece of candy off the line and go to the lunchroom to eat it before going back to work.”

Although Tony’s candy preferences have changed over the years — currently, the milk chocolate peanut clusters are his top choice — he says he’ll never get tired of Cerreta’s homemade sweets.

Cerreta Candy Co. has been located in downtown Glendale since 1991, after moving from its startup location in Phoenix. “We have a great group of people who all enjoy each other, and they love their jobs,” Tony says. “Not that they’re lucky to have the job, but come on — they get to come play with candy!”