Chocolate Santas in marzipan masks: A COVID-19 Christmas in Hungary

Confectioner produces about 100 Santas a day, using gluten-free Italian chocolate

Last updated: November 21, 2020 | 16:49

Reuters and Compiled by Nathaniel Lacsina, Senior Web Editor

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Lajosmzse, Hungary: When confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi decided to put masks on his chocolate Santas in his small workshop in rural Hungary, he intended it as a light-hearted joke to raise people's spirits amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic.

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But it turned out to be shrewd business move as orders surged online, and now he can hardly keep pace with demand.

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Hungarian confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi poses with chocolate Santas wearing protective face masks at his workshop.

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"I think by the time Santa comes he will have to wear a mask because Santa has to show a good example to people," Rimoczi said, sitting in his workshop in the backyard of his village home in Lajosmizse, about 70 kilometres south of Budapest.

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To keep up with orders, he has had to simplify the design and now produces about 100 Santas a day, using gluten-free Italian chocolate. He paints the hat red, and makes the masks from tiny white marzipan strips, adding the ribbons with icing.

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Rimoczi has even had to change the design of his bigger chocolate Santas, which originally came without masks.

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"They were wrapped, but we had to unwrap them and give them masks as our customers now only want masked Santas," he said. His girlfriend helps with the wrapping.

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Rimoczi's business - he also makes other chocolate treats and sells them in a small shop in his house - suffered losses as the pandemic hit in March.

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While the masked Santas have been a boost, he doesn't expect it to last if vaccines help the world defeat the pandemic. "I am sure next year I will sell only a fraction of these, as Santas will no longer have to wear a mask," he said with a smile.

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Chocolate Santas wearing protective face masks are seen in the workshop of the Hungarian confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi.

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