GREENACRES, Fla. -- The clock is ticking! You have just one day to get a special gift for that special valentine.
And right now, local businesses are working overtime to prepare for the rush.
"Valentine's Day and the day before, on the 13th, are the two busiest days for us. We call it our Super Bowl," said Hoffman's Chocolates President Randall Vitale.
At Hoffman's Chocolates in Greenacres, workers are pulling overnight shifts Tuesday night and Wednesday night to make their famous fresh chocolate-covered strawberries, along with other chocolate creations.
"There's no down time this time of year. We go from Christmas holiday, which Winter Wonderland is very important for us. Then we go right into Valentine's Day and then after this we'll be talking about Easter," said Vitale. "We probably start -- especially on the packaging side, eight or nine months in advance, make sure that everything is in place and then we have production starting several weeks before Valentine's Day."
They chocolate factory is using more than 10,000 pounds of chocolate for Valentine’s Day this year. They sell about 50,000 strawberries during the Valentine's Day season. Workers go through the overnight shifts around Valentine's Day to ensure the strawberries are fresh for the customers.
"We want these strawberries to be as fresh as possible, so we really encourage people to consume them within one day of purchasing them," said Vitale.
All the strawberries are locally grown and locally sourced.
"We're so proud of our strawberries," said Vitale. "They're beautiful, stemless strawberries fully enrobed in chocolate so there's no bite wasted."
Hoffman’s is opening two hours early just to accommodate the rush for two days this week.
They will be open at 8 a.m. Thursday at their factory on Lake Worth Road in Greenacres.
