(LEX 18) — Who needs Cupid when you have employees with a sweet tooth working to make February 14th special?
"Valentine's Day is the busiest day of the year," said Ruth Hunt Candies owner Larry Kezele. "Every other holiday, there's nothing that comes close."
We put on our hair nets to see if we have what it takes to work in the Mt. Sterling candy factory.
From caramels to chocolate, the company makes nearly 70 varieties of sweets from scratch. It all smells just as good as it looks.
We saw inside the room where the classic pulled cream candy begins.
"When I bought the company, it was the most popular by far," said Kezele. "And it's not really made anywhere else. It's really unique to Kentucky. It's made with cream and butter and sugar, of course."
These days, Kentuckians have a new favorite candy: bourbon balls. The company sells millions of its most popular items each year.
My assignment involved putting the final touches on the bourbon balls. Employees must check the nuts to ensure they're perfect before lightly placing them on moving chocolates.
It wasn't easy, but Levella Isaac says it's a fun job that's kept her here for over two decades.
"Here, you get to do different things," she told us. "Like, we did mint this morning; now we're doing bourbon balls. Later on, we'll do meltaways. So you got a variety of different things; you're not constantly doing the same thing every day."
AC and Charity also showed me how to wrap suckers by hand. Then, it was back to the bourbon balls. I placed the finished treats in chocolate boxes, ready for customers to enjoy as they have for more than 100 years.
Kezele has owned Ruth Hunt Candies since the late 80s.
"I never feel guilty about what I do," he said. "People come in the door, and they have stories about their grandmother who brought them here years ago, and they have kids and want them to see it."
After experiencing the factory for myself, Larry said I was hired!
"It's because of your enthusiasm and willingness to do any job," he said. "You wrapped suckers, put nuts on bourbon balls. You liked it all!"
When there's sugar involved, I usually do!
My score:
Professionalism: 10
Effort: 10
Skills: 10
Ruth Hunt's Mt. Sterling location is located at 550 North Maysville Road. The Lexington store is located at 213 Walton Avenue.
