Norman Love has built his career on that premise. Founding Norman Love Confections in 2001, he set out to create the best ultra-premium chocolates in the nation. His quality work has been reflected in scores of praise from a variety of sources such as Forbes, Huffington Post, USA Today, and many more.
The man who was recently named as the inaugural inductee of the Dessert Professional Magazine’s Chocolatier Hall of Fame has a lengthy dessert-making career that included stops in France to learn from top pastry makers, as well as at The Ritz Carlton, where he served as corporate executive pastry chef.
After spending many years with Ritz Carlton and traveling around the world opening hotels, Norman Love chose to pursue a new venture. He started making chocolates out of an office and selling to some friends in his area. He quickly gained notoriety for them, and the business blossomed from there.
Today, Norman Love Confections has two factories, four retail stores, and massive e-commerce business. The company produces over 6 million pieces of chocolate annually, and a significant portion of that happens during the Valentine’s Day season.
Those efforts are easily apparent in such products as the company’s latest confections, the Sweetie Pie Collection. These heart-shaped Valentine’s Day gift boxes feature “sweetie pies,” chocolates based on beloved pie flavors: Apple Pie, Banana Cream, Cherry, Coconut Cream, French Silk, Grasshopper, Lemon Meringue, Peanut Butter, Pecan, and Pumpkin. Each of these flavors was carefully crafted to embody the pie from which they’re based.
“Every year, our team collaborates to come up with themes for each season. For Valentine’s Day, we created flavor profiles that match recognizable American pies and then converted them into confections. We want to create flavors that bring you back to your childhood or to recognizable comfort foods,” Love says.
Norman Love Confections’ 2018 Valentine’s Day Collection is available January 29 through February 14 online and at its chocolate salons in Florida. They come in 10-pieces for $27, 24-pieces for $55, and 50-pieces for $105.
The company also produces and ships naked cakes. Naked Love Cakes was launched a little over a year ago, perfecting the bakery trend that has taken off in recent years. They come in six flavors including Carrot Cake, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Coconut, Lemon Raspberry, Ultimate Chocolate, and Vanilla Confetti. They put the traditional layer cake’s inner beauty on display and give customers the flavors that they enjoy, through perfection and not reinvention.
