The sudden appearance of November may have caught some folks off-guard, but Phi Kerwick will take it any day.
Kerwick runs the Blasius Chocolate Factory, in Kensington, and this has not been a bood month.
Because of the humidity and the record warmth, the factory has been able to operate only one week in October. “This month has been like July,” he said.
When it’s warm and humid, it’s impossible to make the creams and caramels that fill the centers of the chocolates. That’s why the factory operates basically on a school-year calendar, from mid-September to just before Memorial Day.
He says the factory can make the candies when it’s as warm as 75, but only if the air is dry. Ideally, he likes his temperatures 45 to 50 at night, and 60 in the afternoon.
As mentioned below, this stands to become the first day since April 26 in which the official Philadelphia temperature failed to reach 60.
The Blasius factory has operated out of the Venango Street facility since 1994. It does some wholesaling, but he also has a huge retail business at the plant.
Easter is the busiest season, but right now, of course, he’s working on Christmas, and hoping it begins to feel more like Christmas.
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