Four generations of family keep this chocolate business sweet

JERICHO, Vt. (InvestigateTV) - At Snowflake Chocolates, candy making is in full swing as the family business preps their next batch.

It was Martha Pollack’s idea to name the business after Snowflake Bentley, the Jericho resident who was the first to photograph snowflakes.

Like a snowflake, all of Bob and Martha Pollack’s sweets are unique. The homemade confections began 40 years ago. “It was very small. We actually sold out of the house,” she said.

Although Bob is the patriarch of the operation, four generations now work together.

“Some days I could throw them all out, alright. And other days, I thank God that they are here,” Bob said.

He works side by side with his grandson, Alex, who started out helping at age five. He’s now 38. “I kind of came back one day and never left, I guess,” Alex said.

Four of the couple’s daughters also work at the business, including Sharon, Alex’s mother. “I’m younger than her, but older than her!” she pointed out.

The family is remarkably candid about the personal struggles of running a family business.

“We’re very good at arguing with each other, very good at arguing with each other,” said Shelly, the youngest daughter. “The business continues. At the end of the day, you’re still family.”

Bob is on site every day. The 86-year-old works 60 hours a week during this busy season. Besides the factory store, they have a retail shop in South Burlington.

He and Alex roll strawberry cream that will be the center of the chocolate. “It’s an old-fashioned hand roll; this is what makes us different,” Bob explained.

He learned the craft as a young boy growing up in Pittsburgh. His dad was a steelworker who made candy on the side. When he died, Bob found the family recipes in a file cabinet.

But the chocolate making would have to wait. It was a banking job that brought Bob and Martha to Vermont. “You get tired being a banker because you always have to say the right thing at the right time,” Bob said.

It was when he was in his 40s that the “Candy Man” could speak his mind. “Oh, I have a fine vocabulary, I have a word for every situation,” he said.

“Back to the question [of] working for your grandfather... It may not seem like it every day, but it’s probably the best gift you can have,” Alex said.

“It’s an amazing, incredible, family-run business,” Sharon said.

The business is led by these two super seniors who have the right ingredients for success.

“The day he doesn’t come to work is the day he’s no longer on this earth,” Sharon said.

“I’m very happy to have them all here,” Martha said.

“Would I do it again? In a heartbeat,” Bob said.