 he story of Mavrakos is a rich and
interesting one. It is the story of a Greek
immigrant who brought his treasured family
recipes from his homeland and eventually
rose to the top of his industry. A living
testament to the American dream, Mavrakos is
also a story with deep and intimate ties to
St. Louis.
 In 1904, John L.
Mavrakos settled in St. Louis where he soon
opened a candy and ice cream shop at
Vandeventer Avenue and Olive Street. In
1913, he and his wife Madeline launched
Mavrakos Candy Co., which produced many of
his family’s secret recipes, much to the
delight of St. Louisans. Over the following
decades, the family business grew,
additional stores opened, and his prestige
in the industry soared.
In 1943, John received
a letter from his son, who was serving in
Italy in the military. Inspired to deliver
a taste of home to America’s soldiers, he
got the idea for developing special recipes
for candy and new design for boxes for
shipping the sweets to GIs overseas. John
Sr. worked with officials in Washington,
D.C. for a year before finally convincing
them to give him the exclusive rights to
ship candy to servicemen aboard.
 During the company's
peak in the 1950's, Mavrakos had over 16
retail stores in the Saint Louis area, a
popular catalog and a state-of-the-art
manufacturing facility. In 1959, John
Mavrakos won the Candy Industry Copper
Kettle award, which is considered the
"highest recognition an individual working
within the U.S. confectionery industry can
attain" according to Candy Industry
Magazine. The Greek chocolatier was
respected for his leadership and inspired
the world of chocolate as we know of it
today.
In many ways, Mavrakos
set the standard for use of top-quality of
ingredients. From imported molasses to the
finest nutmeats, fresh natural ingredients
were the staple of quality Mavrakos
products. Mavrakos also sourced only the
finest cocoa beans for its creamy milk and
dark chocolate. One of its most popular
items was a slab of milk or dark chocolate.
Some of the most cherished chocolates today
stem from the original Mavrakos recipe book,
including Pecan Burrs
™, Molasses Puffs, Heavenly Hash (now
called Pecan Marshmallow Bars), Coconut
Crescents, fondant Bon Bon Creams and
Marshmallow Eggs.
Many fans of Mavrakos
know that the story of this historic candy
company ended in 1984, when the company was
sold to Archibald Candy. Few people,
however, know that the original
leather-bound Mavrakos recipe book was
passed to Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
Company owner Dan Abel, who grew up just
down the street in Clayton from Mavrakos’
last owner, Tom Wotka. Abel studied these
recipes throughout the years and reinvented a
few for his Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate
Company product line.
In 2009, the Abel
family made the
decision to re-launch the legendary
chocolate brand, after over 30 years of
mastering the confectionery industry. The
new Mavrakos offers
many of the famous chocolates past customers
will remember fondly and new customers are
sure to love. Coconut crescents are still
hand shaped to look like a ring, caramels
are hand cut after cooling overnight, Pecan
Burrs™ are hand poured making each one
uniquely shaped, cherries are cordialized,
and the bon bon fondant creams are hand
poured into starch molds and enrobed in
Mavrakos’ signature chocolate. With the
rebirth of the Mavrakos brand led by the
Abel family, a new chapter in chocolate
history is sure to be written.
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http://www.candyindustry.com/kettleawards
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