CT family grows award-winning chocolate company from basement to statewide. It’s still hand stirred.
John and Helen Fascia started selling chocolate out of the basement in their Town Plot neighborhood home 60 years ago.
All these years later the couple is still going strong in Waterbury, and Fascia’s Chocolates and the sweet treats taste the same now as they did in 1964.
The founders and self-taught chocolate gurus, now in their 80’s, are a strong presence at 44 Chase River Road and run the 19,000-square-foot location along with eldest daughter, Louise, the COO, and son-in-law Carmen Romeo taking the reins as company president. Carmen Romeo had previously managed a manufacturing company.
The store was filled with activity on a recent day as the Fascia’s hosted 12 members of the Fairfield Senior Center for the “Chocolate Experience”, which includes Carmen Romeo giving a chocolate education presentation and a taste test of the chocolates.
Romeo said he’s given the history of chocolate and the Fascia’s story to more than 55,000 people over the last 11 years and about 100 customers per week. The experience includes making your own chocolate bar and getting it back by the end of the experience.
Romeo goes through how the cocoa come from Africa and Central America and how it ends up in Waterbury and details the process of making it into their trademark taste with John Fascia’s original recipe.
Romeo also breaks down the science of chocolate and the perfect temperature to temper the chocolate – a process that Fascia’s has perfected over the last six decades.
The crowd watched as two coats of dark chocolate was drizzled through a chocolate fountain on cordial cherries and later the seniors sampled dark, milk and white chocolate.
“The presentation and the chocolate were excellent,” Fairfield’s Pauline Ruggiero said. “It was highly informative. You learn everything bottom on up.”
Romeo also noted in detail the thought and time put into making different products, such as cordial cherries, caramels, gourmet truffles and butter crunch (toffee), including filling molds for different holidays and events.
‘We made chocolate’
Fascia’s now has more than 100 items for sale including several flavors of gelato.
But in 1964, John Fascia was an electronic technician with a Bristol company and roasted nuts and sold them on the side as a secondary income. Eventually, he decided to sell chocolate nut clusters and molded chocolate. Soon after, he started making caramels, toffee, and creams, he said.
Louise Romeo, the eldest daughter, recalls her father constantly studying and perfecting his chocolate.
“It was tough at the beginning,” John Fascia said. “I was working in the factory to keep my benefits. We didn’t have a lot of money coming in and we were trying to build up the business little by little. I always loved chocolate. I had faith we could do it, and I started buying equipment.”
The Fascia’s worked out of their basement for 14 years before securing a storefront on Meriden Road from 1978 to 1985.
“No one gave me anything,” John Fascia said. “We went to New York and bought my first machine, a 1953 Smith melter and stuck it in the trunk of my car and we made chocolate. Then we bought another one and then a pump.”
In 1980, John Fascia left his job at the Bristol company and committed to producing chocolate full time.
“We had people coming all of the time and it got to the point where they would even come late at night,” Helen Fascia said. “Eventually, we moved into a storefront on Meriden Road where we sold, but we still made it at home and brought it to the store.”
“My sisters and I would wake up on a snow day and before going out to play in the snow we would help my mom temper the chocolate,” Louise Romeo said. “My dad would always be sitting in his chairs and reading formulas and my mother was the bow maker. She would make bows all night to put on the packaging.”
The company moved to a larger location on Wolcott Road in 1985. That’s when the Fascia’s were officially out of the basement and produced their sweets on site for the first time. In 1990, the company moved to 40 Industry Lane and after 18 years moved to Thomaston Avenue in 2008, heading to its current location in 2013. All locations have been in Waterbury.
“We weren’t able to buy a building for a long time because we were just making ends meet. John was persistent,” Helen said. “A lot of businesses would have gone out of business, if it wasn’t for him and him keeping going. He had faith.”
The move from Industry Lane to Thomaston Avenue was a difficult time because it was an unexpected move. The family was given two months by the landlord to vacate the building and found a much smaller location on Thomaston Avenue. When the five-year lease in Thomaston Avenue was up, they moved to their current location.
It was during that time that John, and Helen, now 89 and 85 respectively, were offered to sell the company. However, John Fascia said he preferred Fascia’s stay in the family.
“We were made an offer, but it never felt right,” John Fascia said.
Louise and Carmen Romeo agreed to officially take charge of the business in 2009.
“I wasn’t sure about it at first,” Louise said. “Growing up and seeing my parents run the business. It wasn’t easy. It’s a lot of sacrifice. But we decided to do it.”
Her sister, Lynne, is the company’s chief product officer. The youngest Fascia daughter is Lourie; all three grew up in the business.
John Fascia said his favorite of sweets they offer is caramels.
‘Doing things the Fascia’s way’
Romeo said the company is using technology but still staying with its roots in producing chocolate.
“I wanted to make sure we still do things how we did them 60 years ago. We are still doing things the Fascia’s way,” Romeo said. “We are still stirring the chocolate by hand – those things have not changed.”
Products are made in-house in small batches to ensure maximum quality and freshness.
Fascia’s has bought cocoa from a massive chocolate company Cargill for the last 30 years. Cargill is the second largest chocolate producer in the world.
Once the product gets to Waterbury, Fascia’s does it’s work with its traditional recipes.
Romeo said the company is constantly looking for ways to improve with new equipment. “We are using technology, but we are still stirring by hand. he said. “Those things have not changed. The whole process is in one room. Many chocolate places will split it up. We are also improving the efficiency of with our labeling.”
All aboard
The busiest time of year is from November to April. Seventy percent of the business is during that period.
Romeo was looking for a way to bring people into the store during the slower times of the season and looked to the bordering railroad tracks.
The company agreed partnered with the Railroad Museum of New England in 2015, for the “Chocolate Decadence Tour.” The tour is three hours and starts at the 1881 Thomaston train Station and heads to Fascia’s, where patrons will get off the train and have the chance to make their own chocolate bars. There are also guest wineries providing wine tasting while on board from Thomaston to Waterbury and back.
“Nine years ago, we started a partnership with them, and they do scenic tours that include stops here,” Romeo said. “We are a destination. When the train is full, we get 125 people twice a day. We get a couple of busy hours and getting more than 200 people a day in the store in the summer is great.”
Next generation
Fascia’s has 40 employees and seven are full-time.
The Romeo’s 24-year-old son, Matthew, has entered the business as the wholesale manager. He’s had a hand in helping get Fascia’s sold in 115 locations around the state, with the biggest retailers being Big Y and Adams Hometown Market. Fascia’s has been in Big Y since last summer.
“We have another generation joining us now,” Carmen Romeo said. “We also have a nephew who works here and a total of five grandchildren in the family.”
“For 50 years we were the best kept secret in Connecticut and in the last 10 years our profile has risen. We’ve had 55,000 people listen to me talk about chocolate,” he said. “In the last five years we have greatly expanded our wholesale reach. The 115 grocers that sell our product our high end or independent grocers. Our intent is to get north of Hartford and closer to the Big Y headquarters area.
Fascia’s also helps non-profits and with sponsorships. Most recently it did a sponsorship for the Hartford Symphony and it has a licensing agreement with Yale University. Romeo noted the chocolate is kosher and that Fascia’s does personalized and custom products.
“When my wife and I see these growth we smile,” John Fascia said. “From the beginning, we are still here, and we grow every day. We are still here in the background.”