[gentle music] My name is Sara Harris.

I am the operations manager here at Pulakos Chocolates in Erie, PA.

So Pulakos Chocolates was established by George Pulakos.

He came to the US from Greece.

He began to sell chocolates from his cart, here in Erie, and then established a store that was established in 1903, and we've been selling chocolates here in Erie ever since then, so this is 120th year.

We make all of our candies here from scratch in our kitchen, homemade, fresh daily.

We're really proud to continue the traditions that we've been using for the last 120 years.

We still make all of our chocolates by hand, and we continue to use a lot of the same equipment, like our marble top tables, our copper kettles, and really, kind of, bringing that into the current time period.

So today we'll be talking about sponge candy.

Sponge candy is a local Erie staple.

One of the first things that visitors to the area when they come into the store, they ask, "What is sponge candy?"

So, sponge candy is made in a copper kettle, and it has several ingredients that are added at a specific time.

The kettle is hand-stirred the entire time, and the kettle sits over an open flame, and then it is poured into a two by two foot stainless steel mold.

It then sits overnight to rise, similar to a bread dough, and it creates a hard outer shell.

Our blocks weigh approximately 40 pounds each, and are two feet by two feet.

It's then removed from the mold, and we hand cut it.

It is placed on the belt, and it goes through two chocolate waterfalls to be covered with two layers of chocolate.

As it moves down the line, it then goes into our cooling tunnel, and then is received at the end of the line and packaged right on the spot.

It is made, cut, packaged and sealed, all within less than 24 hours.

[gentle music] Really, I think what is the most notable, is the fact that Pulakos has been in Erie for 120 years, and the business has continued to grow and create traditions locally.

It's really exciting to see new people who have recently moved to Erie, or visitors here, and how they get so excited when they come in.

A lot of folks, they don't have local chocolate companies where they grew up or where they came from.

And so, it's exciting to share Pulakos with them and our wide variety of chocolates, and the different things that we have.

And it's so wonderful to hear customers that have been coming in for 50 plus years and keeping Pulakos involved in sharing it with the next generation.

[gentle music]