Santa Claus can rest assured that he will have an ample supply of Russell Stover Candies to fill stockings Christmas Eve.
“We’ll wrap up most of the Christmas candy by the end of October,” said Darrell Weick, manager of Russell Stover Candies’ Iola plant.
The transition to the next major candy-consuming holiday, Valentine’s Day, has started, he said, with one conveyor line now filled with a stream of heart-shaped chocolates.
That’s the way it has been since 100 employees started producing the popular line of candies here more than 14 years ago, just off of Marshmallow Lane at the northwest edge of town.
Now two production teams and a sanitation crew are responsible for making literally “hundreds of millions of pieces of candy each year,” said Weick, manager the past three years.
While the plant is constantly hiring, the total has pretty well stabilized at 350, he said.
The work force is representative of all of Allen County, and well into surrounding counties. Weick figures the reach is about 30 miles in any direction, which brings in people from Garnett, Yates Center, well into Bourbon County and Chanute.
The company has no trouble attracting applicants, he said. Hiring is more aggressive when holiday schedules increase production demands.
The two production shifts keep kitchen kettles, molding apparatus and conveyors humming from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 the next morning, with 10-hour shifts starting at 6:30 and 5 p.m.
“Generally, we work four days,” to total 40 hours a week, Weick said, but occasionally demand dictates five days. Now and then a Saturday schedule is added.
A sanitation crew starts at 9 p.m. each work day.
No changes of significance are anticipated in production.
“We continue to invest in our manufacturing processes with new equipment, while retaining time-proven methods that ensure a quality product assortment,” Weick said. “Customers enjoy our chocolate products and we continue to work hard to meet their needs.”
Most of the candies produced in Iola are holiday novelties, including sugar-free varieties.
“We also make a small amount of boxed chocolates,” Weick said.
