From heart-shaped chocolates and candies with love messages to pink and red gummies and flower-adorned confections, Valentine’s Day at Granite State Candy Shoppe is quite the occasion.

In preparation for one of the biggest holidays in the chocolate and candy-making world, chocolatiers at the company have produced hundreds of sweet treats in the past few weeks.

“Not only do we get to make fun chocolates and candies, but it’s this important part of people’s lives and holiday celebrations,” said owner Jeffrey Bart, whose grandfather founded Granite State Candy Shoppe in 1927.

He wants his sugary confections to tap into the sense of lineage he feels around the business, and he strives to create nostalgia for the community members who have been shopping there for years.

“It’s this idea that this is the place that somebody went when they were little because they were brought there by their parents and now they’re doing the same thing,” Bart said. “It’s generational consistency that we’re able to provide to the community.”

In addition to offering classic Valentine’s Day sweets, Granite State Candy Shoppe seeks to innovate each year with novelty candies like “Share the Love Gummies,” which come in a variety of fruit-flavored, rainbow-sanded hearts, according to general manager Tal Smith.

Smith picks out the holiday packaging each year and said she enjoys creating new designs for different bags and boxes, especially the heart containers of assorted candies.

“I love making things beautiful,” Smith said. “I love getting them ready for people, so when they give it to someone, they feel that love.”

Other novelty candies for this Valentine’s season include the “Sending Love Heart,” a box of chocolates that evokes the idea of stamps used to send love letters, and the chocolate smidgens, which come in packaging decorated with the word “love” in different languages. 

The candy company’s merchandise also includes a Valentine’s Day staple and hallmark of romance: chocolate-covered fruit.

“For chocolate-dipped strawberries, we do the standard ones in milk, white and dark chocolate,” Bart said. “Then we do the fancy berries that are dipped in chocolate and sprinkled in all sorts of cool stuff. We always have new ones there too.”

For an inside look into how Granite State Candy Shoppe produces their Valentine’s Day candies, check out the Concord Monitor on Instagram and Facebook (@concordmonitor).

Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@cmonitor.com