Hoffman’s Chocolate is known for four stores in Palm Beach County and one in Stuart, but is now making a big push further south.

“This is a really big year for us, says Jarett Levan President of BBX Capital. “First of all BBX Capital that owns Hoffman’s chocolates is headquartered on Las Olas so we thought it would be appropriate to open our first store there.”

The Las Olas store and a holiday pop-up store in Sawgrass Mills have recently opened and November will see pop-ups in the Broward Mall in Plantation and The Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale. There will also be another store opening at The Fountains in Plantation come January.

 Hoffman’s will be celebrating its 40th year in 2015. While it’s been a Palm Beach County brand for many years Hoffman’s has had a following in Broward County for just has long.

 �Broward is ready for Hoffman’s. We have had many customers visit our Palm Beach stores or our factories in Greenacres to get there chocolate fix. We thought it was appropriate to bring Hoffman’s to them instead,” Levan says.

 About 75 new employees will be hired in Broward and Palm Beach. The kiosks and the pop-up stores are hiring seasonal employees who will transition into full-timers at the opening of more permanent stores.

“South Florida will begin to enjoy Hoffman’s product very quickly as we expand from Broward County then into Miami Dade County,” Levan says.

The chocolatier’s parent company BBX Sweet Holdings has been quite active in terms of acquisitions this year. First it was Hoffman’s Chocolates, rapidly followed by 5 more acquisition – Bennett’s chocolates and Anastasia Confections in Florida and Williams & Bennett, Jer’s Chocolates and Helen Grace Chocolates in California.

 �This is a very exciting industry and we will continue to acquire other companies. We don’t really see competitors of our size of the scale here in South Florida. There are others in market but the Hoffman’s experience and product quality stand out from the competition.”

 Hoffman’s Chocolates product line includes over 70 varieties of hand-made confections. The holiday pop-up stores will offer a wide variety of boxed gourmet chocolates and a vast selection of specialty gifts, distinctive gift baskets, and corporate gifts.