See's Candies factory in South San Francisco cranks up for Christmas

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KGO) -- Christmas is no holiday at the See's Candy factory in South San Francisco. in fact, it's hard work.

"We're making cashew brittle and this candy is about 240 degrees at the moment. And once it reaches temperature we pour it on a cooling slab," says production manager Bob McIntyre.

McIntyre is walking us through the production process, which is on overdrive leading up to Christmas.

"And what we see here, we're taking the cashew brittle we made in the kitchen and placing it on the conveyer belt. And now it's entering the second bottom-er for a second layer of chocolate. And it'll go through another cooling tunnel to the main coater. Now, we're decorating the cashew brittle, we have coconut and chocolate mixed together and applied by hand, science and art together.

The finished products are on display in the factory's store, which is open to the public.

"So we have all of our holiday candy wrapped in beautiful packages. We have several different assortments for all tastes and budgets," says See's Marketing Director Jensen DeWees.

She says many of the people crowding the candy shop today are return customers, who've made candy part of their holiday ritual.

"You know we're part of so many family traditions. You know after dinner people sit around and eat See's and share stories of the year. And it's just great," she says.