Heavenly Hash or bust: Why the Gulf South has its own Easter candy culture

What’s your favorite Easter candy? Your answer may say a lot about where you live and what kind of candy and chocolate you ate during your childhood. Of course, Easter is a religious holiday for Christians, and along the Gulf South there seems to be quite a religious following for treats like the Gold Brick Egg, Heavenly Hash, and Pecan Egg. Those are a few of the Easter chocolates made by Elmer Chocolate. The company is based in the small city of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, but it got its start in New Orleans back in 1855. Today, the Elmer Candy Corporation uses state of the art robotic technology to produce chocolate and candy that can be found in stores across the U.S. and beyond. When it comes to Elmer’s Easter chocolates though, the company and its workers go back to some old school ways. In this episode, I go inside Elmer’s chocolate factory to see how man and machine are cranking out something truly sweet.