Caramel Apples made in East Tennessee
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/five-at-four/caramel-apples-made-in-east-tennessee/95103964
Raimondi Caramel Apples in Morristown is a family business that is super busy during September and OctoberAuthor: WBIR StaffPublished: 5:00 PM EDT October 14, 2014Updated: 5:00 PM EDT October 14, 2014
(WBIR-Morristown) It’s that time of year for pumpkins and squash and apples. And just not any old apples, caramel apples.
A company right here in East Tennessee is a big producer of the delicious seasonal treats.
The family that makes caramel apples in Morristown relocated from Chicago in 1978.
“The weather and the town and the people. They’re very kind down here,” Vito Raimondi said.
He learned the business from his uncle but improved it. No more making caramel apples one at a time, by hand.
He invented an automated caramel dipping machine. He owns the patent and sells it to other caramel apple companies all over the world.
His son Frank Raimondi explained, “Pretty much anybody out there who does caramel apples in mass production has got our equipment or at least has got parts of our equipment.”
The recipe is used only to make Raimondi Caramel Apples in Morristown.
“It’s the way we make our caramel from scratch and its secret ingredients for out caramel,” Vito said.
Frank said it’s no secret they use only Granny Smith apples.
“They taste better, they last longer.”
Frank has been helping out in the family business since he was in elementary school.
“My first job was probably picking up sticks off the floor and keeping it clean and then I got promoted to packing,” he said.
Oh, the sticks. When their source for sticks proved to be unreliable, Vito found a way to make his own.
The machine he invented churns out 60 caramel apples a minute, that’s one every second. About a dozen employees work to make 2,000,000 apples in September and October to ship to stores in the eastern half of the US and internationally.
“It’s a very stressful business, it really is. The two months out of the year that we do caramel apples it’s almost like a full year of stress piled into two months,” Frank said.
They don’t make them until an order comes in. The on-demand production is critical to providing the freshest, best product.
“I’ve got my kids’ picture on the package and I want to make sure that whenever somebody buys a caramel apple they know that package to be the best caramel apple out there,” Frank said.
The younger Vito and Nicole, the next generation, are featured on the labels. It’s not clear yet whether or not they’ll take over the family business.
Frank said, “In a way I would like them to get started in it but I wish I could find a way to make it less stressful.”
“Me and my wife and him, Frank, we’ve got a lot of work in, a lot of patience, a lot of sweat, that’s why I don’t want to give it away,” Vito said. “It’s like a tradition. Now when I am dead and gone they can do whatever they want, to be honest.”
Vito plans to keep on working for a long time, although he did retire once.
“I retired for one week and then I said that’s it, I’m going back to work. My wife was always, honey, we’re going to do this we’re going to do that, which she never called me honey anyway. It was a honey do and And I said no I can’t take this,” he said.
Less honey do, more caramel.
But buy them quick. The season ends at the end of the month.