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North Salt Lake • "Chocolate is very temperamental," Brenda Roundy explains as she swirls the smooth mixture on a cool marble slab.
Sometimes the inside temperature is too warm, other days the outside humidity is too high, said Roundy, the only employee who still hand-dips chocolates at the Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolates and Ice Cream factory in North Salt Lake.
"Fillers would make it more stable," she continued as she mixed a handful of almonds into the chocolate, "but we don't use chocolate with fillers, so there are challenges every day."
After more than 15 years on chocolate dipping duty, Roundy has learned to weather the ups and downs of chocolate making, because on a perfect day, which is usually in the cool weather months just before the holidays, the chocolate stars align and she can dip more than 1,500 almond or peanut clusters during an eight-hour shift. She can make even more if she's dipping the toasted coconut haystacks.
Perseverance permeates Mrs. Cavanaugh's, which celebrated 50 years in business in 2014. It was a welcome anniversary, especially after the company faced hurdles seven years ago.
Marie and George Cavanaugh, who were 75 and 80 at the time, had handed over most of the day-to-day operations to a manager later accused of financial mismanagement and changing recipes. It affected the bottom line and the quality of the chocolates the company was known for producing, said the founders' daughter Colleen Cavanaugh Wall.
"It normally takes four hours to cook our caramel and he was doing it in one," she said. "We always use butter and he was adding margarine."
At the time, Wall and her husband, Mike, along with their six school-age children, were living in central Florida. Mike Wall managed all the housing on Deseret Ranch, a beef and cattle enterprise operated by the LDS Church.
The Walls returned to Utah and bought the family business. Today, they operate and manage the Mrs. Cavanaugh's factory in North Salt Lake as well as five of the company's six Utah stores, including ones in Bountiful, Layton, North Salt Lake (inside the factory), Provo and West Valley City. One of Wall's siblings owns and operates a sixth store in Ogden.
Mike Wall had worked at the chocolate factory for 19 years before taking the Florida job, so he knew what it entailed. The manager had already left, and they immediately began to "change all the recipes back to the way they were," Wall said.
Earning back customer trust was more difficult. "During the seven years we were gone, the previous manager had raised the prices," she said. "And that drove a lot of customers away."
To help bring in business, the Walls offered discounts, promoted tours of their factory and passed out coupons at parades and other events. They also added frozen custard to the menu to help improve summer sales.
For the 50-year celebration last May, the company purchased 500 hot dogs for a customer appreciation barbecue, said Wall. "But we ran out and had to go buy 3,000 more." It was a turning point, for the business and the Cavanaugh family.
"When my mom sold us the business, we had so many hills to climb," said Wall, her voice cracking with emotion. "But during that party, my mom said, 'The smartest thing we did was sell to you and Mike.' "
George died in 2013, but Marie Cavanaugh still visits the factory occasionally.
It's an experience she likely never anticipated, in 1964, when she offered to make chocolates to help her South Dakota church raise money. The fundraiser was a success, but after it was over, people continued to ask for her chocolates. That's when the Cavanaughs went to the bank to get a $15,000 loan.
Marie brought along a box of chocolates, and after sampling several of the palatable pleasures, the banker granted the loan and then became Mrs. Cavanaugh's first customer — ordering 200 pounds of chocolates to share with his friends and clients, Wall said.
In 1972, Marie and George Cavanaugh sold their South Dakota farmhouse and moved to Utah, where Marie grew up. They bought a building in Bountiful and opened their first store.
Mrs. Cavanaugh's is now a family business, with a few friends mixed in. All of the Wall children work side-by-side with their parents, either making the caramels and ice cream or packaging and giving tours.
To keep up with demand, machines do most of the work. But the company still maintains two old-time chocolate-making traditions.
It still marks each candy with a different letter or design to help distinguish the mint from the marshmallow and the creams from the caramels. This is labor intensive, as an employee must stand at the end of each chocolate enrobing machine and write the letter or mark by hand. But the chocolate letters, lines and swirls are something customers have come to expect from Mrs. Cavanaugh's, Wall said.
And then there's Roundy, who hand-dips every nut cluster and haystack the company sells. Customers who take a factory tour or visit the North Salt Lake store can peek through the open window and see her at work.
At 67, Roundy said she has no plans to retire as she still enjoys the job, despite chocolate's temperamental nature. "Working with the people is the best part," she said, adding the benefits aren't bad. "We do taste test the chocolate once in a while."
Where to find Mrs. Cavanaugh's
Mrs. Cavanaugh's Chocolates and Ice Cream has six stores across the Wasatch Front. Factory tours are available at the North Salt Lake location.
Bountiful • 170 W. 500 South, 801-292-2172. Open Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Layton • 1200 N. Hillfield Road (inside Layton Hills Mall), 801-544-3501. Open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
North Salt Lake • 835 Northpointe Circle, 801- 677-8888. Open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours cost $1. Reservations required.
Ogden • 1993 N. 400 East, 801-737-3456. Open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Orem • 1163 S. State St., 801-764-1085. Open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
West Valley City • 3601 S. 2700 West (inside Valley Fair Mall), 801-968-4072. Open Monday-Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.