The Candy Basket, Portland

1.What services does your business offer and what makes your business stand out from the competition?

For over four generations, The Candy Basket, Inc team has worked daily to handcraft chocolate confections from start to finish. Our staff works hard to produce top quality items with care. Our store features a rotating salt water taffy collection with over 180 flavors, a Pacific Northwest section to give a taste of Oregon, various chocolate confections weighed by the pound, and our classic Signature Gold Boxes. Our most popular item is the salted caramel – buttery caramel covered in smooth chocolate of your choice and topped with a dash of sea salt.

2. What was the inspiration to start or run this business?

We're a family run business. Dale's father purchased The Candy Basket Inc. in 1977, and two years later he joined the team. The taffy business worked its way down to Kipi when she took over the family business from her mother. Initial business talk led to love. And in 1998, the Taffy Queen and Chocolate King merged their two companies. Since then, we've grown into one of the largest candy companies in the Pacific Northwest.

3. What do you love most about your job?

We love how happy our customers are when they first enter and see our 20-foot chocolate waterfall. And then again, when they leave happy with a bag full of their favorite candies.

4. What is the best reaction you've ever gotten from a customer?

"Oh my god," accompanied by a smile after trying our sample of the day.