OCTOBER 2021 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 27
NASSAU CANDY
THE SWEET STUFF BY BRIANA BONFIGLIO
There’s some sweet stuff cooking on
Long Island.
Nassau Candy, a long-standing family
business with factories in Hicksville
and Ronkonkoma, has been doling out
delectable chocolates and other treats
since 1918.
“Though we’re a large, national company
with more than 1,000 associates, we haven’t
forgotten our small-family business
roots,” says Lance Stier, owner and head
of M&A, business development, and
strategy at Nassau Candy and CEO of
NC Custom.
It all started with a storefront in
Hempstead. The business remained
a retail operation for 66 years until
Stier’s father, Les Stier, and uncle, Barry
Rosenbaum, acquired a candy and
tobacco distributing company in 1984.
By 1987, the business was making its
own confectionaries under the brand
names Nassau Candy and Nancy Adams.
Now, with the business in its second
generation, Lance Stier and his siblings
and cousins hold leadership roles in the
company, and founders Les, the chairman
and CEO, and Barry, the president,
act as their mentors.
The business is always evolving —
Lance says Nassau Candy is one of the
only U.S. manufacturers that makes
candy fruit slices and Jordan almonds,
“as the process for both is time intensive
and very unique.”
Nassau Candy also makes molded
chocolates (such as bars and one-shot
products, like truffl es and barks), enrobed
chocolates (like pretzels and sea
salt caramels), panned confections (like
dark chocolate almonds) and hundreds
of others.
The company distributes its candies
to thousands of customers, including
national retailers, independent candy
shops, ice cream shops, internet
resellers, specialty food stores, large
grocery chains, corporations, and
specialty markets.
Most recently, Lance helped launch NC
Custom, which customizes products
such as apparel, health and beauty
items (like lip balm and sanitizer),
confectionery items, drinkware, and
bags for customers ranging from corporations,
to zoos, to aquariums, to
national parks, to college bookstores.
“We combine these items with thematic
artwork to build unique and sought-after
collections across the corporate,
travel, and specialty retail industries,”
Lance says.
Nassau Candy’s product development
and creative teams also customize
labels for the companies they service.
The business has partnerships
with major brands such as Godiva,
M&M’s (Mars Wrigley), Mrs. Fields,
and S’well.
WHOLLY MOLI
(Photo by Jason Coronel/Nassau Candy)
Nassau Candy’s nonpareils candies.
/LONGISLANDPRESS.COM
