The Jewish Advocate (March 6, 2001)

It’s that time of year again! Time for all your favorite traditional foods. Homemade charoseth. Bubbe’s matzah ball soup. Jelly rings.

Jelly rings?

Until recently, there were not many options when it came to Pesadich desserts. All the delicious wonders which were enjoyed at other festivals and lifecycle events were put off-limits for one week each year.

Fortunately, the hand-crafted candy-makers at Sweethearts Three, Inc. have come up with an answer. "The customer demand was so high for kosher for Passover candy, we just couldn’t say no," explains Chocolatier Jill Schwab, who has been making and selling chocolates and other delicious treats with her mother since 1981.

Though their confections have always been certified kosher, under supervision of the Vaad Harabonim of Mass., Sweethearts Three recently decided to transfer their creative process to a special set of machines which are kosher for Passover.

"There really isn't anywhere to get [handmade] kosher for Passover chocolates," Schwab observes. "In fact, there aren't many places to get handmade chocolates period, but this is a new product and our customers are very excited."

In order to make their shop kosher for Passover, all non-Passover ingredients and products had to be stored away in a separate area. As Sweethearts Three already had two kitchens, keeping the chometz separate from the Pesadich was not all that difficult. However, the process of making the pareve kitchen kosher for Passover was still a large undertaking.

"We had to get a whole new melter," Schwab notes, "which was a big deal."

Schwab also had to secure special supervision and supply lines from new vendors.

"We worked with a new company in Brooklyn which we had never worked with before," Schwab recalls. "There are only a limited number of vendors who do kosher for Passover ingredients."

Even so, Schwab says that the effort has attained its own just desserts.

"Sweethearts Three Passover chocolate will provide a delicious alternative to the mass-produced, pre-packaged, usually costly products available for Passover," Schwab suggests.

Now in its third generation (Jill's daughter acts as "official taster"), Sweethearts Three is looking forward to growing their business and having this new venture provide a new and convenient opportunity for customers to stay involved with their product.

"Many people go away over Passover so they do not have to kasher their own kitchens," Schwab says. "Next year, we hope to expand this particular initiative to the popular Passover package tours. I think there is a big opportunity to sell to these people as well."

In the meantime, Schwab is looking forward to providing this new service to her established client base in the Greater Boston area. "Where we already serve a need for kosher chocolate in general, our customers are looking forward to being able to have the same quality chocolates all year round," she says.

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