THE GLORIOUS RETURN OF BARTONS CANDY

FROM KOSHER TODAY (MONDAY, MARCH 22)

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder for the Returning Bartons

Baltimore…Eighteen months after it had produced its last batch of the popular Chocolate Almond Kisses, Bartons has made a dramatic return to store shelves in time for Passover 2010. According to a source that has been involved with Bartons for many years, with the exception of less than a handful of previous customers, most stores gladly placed their orders for the coveted chocolates. The luxury chocolate products were not available in 2009 after owners Cherrydale Farms of Allentown, PA failed. With the exception of marshmallows, Bartons produced the full line of its OU certified Kosher for Passover products. The Bartons brand is currently owned by Bronx based Bazzini Nuts, a 119-yearold family business that had also acquired the Barricini brand, once Bartons key competitor. Bazzini is said to have acquired the plant and is in fact rumored to be moving its own operations to the large Allentown facility. KosherToday has learned that Bazzini intends to continue to produce Bartons year-round and to continue its successful corporate and gift programs. Bartons was founded in 1938 by Viennese chocolatier Stephen Klein.