1-800-Flowers, Chocolate Works team up to deliver Fruit Bouquets

Collaboration comes just in time for Valentine’s Day event for New York area residents.

1-800 Flowers, a leading gourmet food and floral gift provider for all occasions, has partnered with Chocolate Works, a national retailer and manufacturer of custom Belgian chocolate gifts, to create and deliver freshly-made Fruit Bouquets by 1800Flowers.com.

The Long Island-based companies are teaming up just in time for one of the most prolific chocolate-buying days of the year – Valentine’s Day — by combining fruit and chocolates. They will be offering a wide selection of carved fresh fruit arrangements, including chocolate-dipped fruit varieties, to provide consumers with sweet gift options.

Chocolate Works will hand-craft and deliver signature Valentine's products from Fruit Bouquets by 1-800-Flowers.com, including Sweet Love Story, a fresh mix of strawberries, melon and grapes that surround dipped and decorated pineapple carved into letters to spell L-O-V-E as well as Mugable Bunch of Berries that features plain and chocolate dipped strawberries in a keepsake mug designed exclusively by inspirational artist Sandra Magsamen.

"We are excited to work with a growing company that has the same commitment to providing its customers with quality product and an exceptional customer experience," says Tom Hartnett, President of 1-800-Flowers.com.

"This is a unique opportunity for our chocolatiers to apply their skills in custom confections to create unique fruit arrangements," says Joe Whaley, founder, Chocolate Works. "Everyone loves chocolate, but fruit dipped in Belgian chocolate is a truly loved combination.”

Fruit Bouquets by 1800Flowers.com offers more than 100 arrangements for all occasions. Gift enhancements include chocolate gift boxes, plush toys and mylar balloons. Valentine's Day is the second most popular holiday for fruit bouquets, with Mother's Day being the most popular.

Valentine's Day is also Chocolate Works' second most popular holiday, with Christmas being the most popular. Fruit Bouquets by 1800Flowers.com is available nationwide and the collaboration with Chocolate Works currently covers delivering fruit bouquets to New York City area residents and businesses in Long Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn and Westchester. Expansion to all regions is in development.

With more than 30 years experience in B-to-B reporting, writing and editing — the bulk of which was dedicated to covering the bakery, confectionery and snack industries — Pacyniak has chronicled changes within the food industry since the early 1980s. A Boston University journalism degree graduate, he worked for a variety of publications before joining BNP Media in 1994 as editor of Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery magazine. In 2001, he took over as editor-in-chief of Candy Industry until 2018.