years .
“ We worked with them for a full year , and it was a great way to get introduced to the community ,” Negele said of the Wolfs .
The couple had never lived in a small town before , but they quickly fell in love with Attica and raised a son , Doyle McIntosh , who is an Air Force Major and fighter pilot , and a daughter , Jessica McIntosh , who is a wine executive in South Carolina . Negele has been an Indiana state representative for the last 10 years .
“ We ’ ve been a local employer since 1996 , and some of our employees ’ children now work for us ,” McIntosh said . “ The business has grown , and we opened a shop in West Lafayette about six or seven years ago .
“ We also produce Fair Oaks Farms chocolates and sell our candy wholesale and to mom-and-pop shops ,” he added .
To ensure there will be enough candy to fulfill all the holiday orders , the candy-making starts in mid-October and reaches full-force by the beginning of November with 25 production workers and packers working after school and on the weekends .
“ We can ’ t produce a lot of the Christmas candy until mid-October because we use no preservatives ,” Negele said .
“ We make our chocolate Old World style . We still use copper kettles and maple paddles because the copper distributes the temperature evenly . The marble slab maintains the ambient temperature we need for toffee and chews ,” she said . “ We make our creams from scratch with a 100-year-old cream beater . We don ’ t
use flour to flour our pans , we use sugar .
“ We go for high quality , not long shelf life ,” Negele said , adding , “ Caramels have the shortest shelf life — about 90 days .”
Not only are the boxed chocolates ordered as gifts for family members and friends , but also businesses order the candy to give to their clients .
IF YOU GO
Wolf ’ s Fine Handmade Chocolates has two locations . The candy factory and coffee bar are located at 503 S . Council St ., Attica , Ind . A retail candy shop is located at Bell Plaza , 1185 Sagamore Parkway , West Lafayette , Ind . For more information , call the Attica location at ( 765 ) 762-6707 , the West Lafayette location at ( 765 ) 446-2211 , or toll free at ( 888 ) 98-CANDY . To view their website , go to www . wolfschocolate . com .
“ We receive a lot of boxed candy orders ,” she said . “ We ’ re small enough we can customize the order with a business card , Christmas card , or a chocolate coin that we can stamp with the company ’ s logo and place it inside the box .”
Wolf ’ s offers three kinds of giftboxed chocolate assortments : deluxe , which includes white confection ;
Wolf ’ s Fine Handmade Chocolates , 503 S . Council St ., Attica , is decorated for the holidays . Photo provided
ILLIANA MAGAZINE — WINTER 2022 13