- Leo Stefanos
Leo Stefanos was born in
Greece , was the inventor of the DOVEBAR. He created the Dove Bar to appeal to many people in America's taste for chocolate and ice cream.Early Beginnings
Leo Stefanos was a first generation
Greek-American , arriving inNew York and eventually settling inChicago's South side to raise a family which included two young sons. The idea for the confection arose in the mid1950 's when one day Leo saw his young son, Mike, racing recklessly down the street in pursuit of the neighborhood ice cream truck. Leo knew that was dangerous and decided to make his own ice cream bar in hopes of keeping Mike and his brother closer to home. Since he owned a candy shop that also sold ice cream, he came up with the idea of developing his own ice cream treat. He spent months in his small candy store's back room located on Chicago’s South Side, developing his own brand by cutting a few blocks of his best ice cream, which he then dipped into rich chocolate which eventually became a popular item at the Dove Candy shop. Before long, the DOVEBAR began to get attention from local people.Mike grew up, earned a CPA degree, and then joined his father in the candy shop in
1977 . After Leo died, Mike took over the store, and the popularity of the DOVEBAR began to spread beyondChicago . Over one million of the frozen treats were sold by street vendors that first year.Later Years
Mike Stefanos began to think of ways to expand the family business and introduced DoveBars to specialty stores and country clubs in the
Chicago area. In1984 he presented the DoveBar at theFancy Food Show inWashington, D.C. , and began to receive orders from around the country. Since then similar products have been sold for years, but Mike has continued to make DoveBars in the same way that his father had in the past.In
1985 , the DOVEBAR company was bought byMars, Incorporated , makers of products such as M&M'S Chocolate Candies and SNICKERS Bar. DOVE Chocolate, inspired by the chocolate on the original DOVEBAR introduced by Stefanos decades earlier, was introduced nationally in1990 . Today Dove Bars are available in over 30 countries around the world.ee also
External links
* [http://www.dovebar.com/dove/ DoveBar Corp. Site]
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