From Fortune: The plant workers of See's Candies start
arriving each day at 4 a.m. In Los Angeles and San Francisco they stand at
their stations and drizzle fondant onto maple pecan bonbons or count the nuts
in each almond royal. They spread rum nougat into flat pans or break up chunks
of cashew brittle by hand. All the while, they wear the signature white lab
coats with their first names embroidered on the front in black stitching --
similar to the ones in the famous 1952 I Love Lucy episode, for which Lucille
Ball trained at See's. By 9 a.m., many of the workers break for lunch.
Meanwhile, in the Kiewit Building on Farnam Street in Omaha,
Warren Buffett is largely unaware of what is beginning at See's. His Berkshire
Hathaway group (BRKA) acquired the little candy company in 1972 -- exactly 40
years ago -- for $25 million. The boxed-chocolate industry is small, with total
sales estimated at just under $2 billion a year in the U.S., and does not often
grow year to year, although it is up 4% in 2012. See's, which had sales of $376
million in 2011, $83 million of it profit, represents an infinitesimal drop in
the bucket of Buffett's other holdings, which include fat stakes in American Express,
Coca-Cola, and IBM. But of all his investments, the regional candy maker remains
Buffett's fondest….
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