ST. LOUIS. – It is a family tradition here at Crown Candy Kitchen and one of their biggest weeks of the year—the bunnies are hopping off the shelves just in time for Easter.

“But these are the traditional,” said Andy Karandzieff, owner of Crown Candy Kitchen.  “These are the bunnies. We’ll sell just 12 or 13 hundred alone just of these.”

Dogs, roosters, sharks and elephants—the business has been making them since December, with rabbits, crosses and eggs being big sellers.

Andy Karandzieff has been making all of these creations out of chocolate for decades, and he’s seen chocolate prices go up and down.

“You know we deal with it,” Karandzieff said. “You have to adjust your prices, and I have to pay more, and everybody has to pay more. We bought chocolate ahead of the price increase so we can keep prices down. We’ve got so many great generational customers.  I don’t want to say everybody is struggling, but everybody has some kind of financial concern.”

Karandzieff noted that Holy Thursday and Good Friday of this week will be the two biggest selling days at Crown Candy.