Christmas is usually the key trading period for most consumer-focused businesses - but for many chocolate makers, Easter is the high water mark for sales.
Last year chocolate products had sales of more than €620m - and while the bulk of that went to international players like Mondelez-owned Cadbury's, Irish producers have been slowing growing their presence in the market both at home and abroad.
For Lily O'Brien's, Christmas is still the top selling period - but Easter is firmly in second place.
"Even though Santa Claus is very busy with toys everybody seems to need a box of chocolates [but] Easter is pretty fantastic for us as well," said founder and head of product development Mary Ann O'Brien.
"It's quite a frightening season for a business as it all happens in the last week, so you have to be quite accurate with your forecasting," she said.
"The shopping started last Friday and reaches a frenzy because everyone is out shopping for eggs, looking for their perfect egg and what they want for their loved one."
Of course it's not just local sales that companies like Lily O'Brien's needs to think about - it's also got a significant export business to think about.
And while Irish chocolate may not have the heritage of its Swiss or Belgian counterparts, it's been well-received by overseas buyers.
"I take great pleasure that when I first when to my first international trade show in 1994 or 1995 the Belgians were all laughing their heads off at an Irish woman who thought she could sell Irish chocolate," she said.
"Those same people I now count as my friends and I think they have great respect for ourselves and other Irish producers."
Ms O'Brien said the company is doing particularly well the British market, but it's also seeing strong sales in North America and Australia.
"We're still a very small company, everything is still made in Newbridge, and we're very proud of it," she said.
The market has come on a lot since the early 1990s, when Lily O'Brien's was getting off the ground, with many new boutique producers coming on the scene in recent years.
However Ms O'Brien says that there were plenty of small players back in those days - and the business lends itself to homemade start-ups.
"I set it up in my own kitchen and people are still doing that," she said. "You can make for the farmer's market and then maybe trade up and get a big premises like I did and start to really upscale your production.
"But it is the sort of business you can do in an artisan way, and that's how the Belgians grabbed the world's attention... there's a Belgian chocolatier in every village."
While many might consider chocolate to be an essential part of their day, others see it as a luxury that they can cut back spending on as needs be. Others still might see it as going against any attempt they make for a healthier lifestyle - but Ms O'Brien said that neither of these notions has had an impact on their businesses sales.
"We would be something you buy as a special treat, or a special gift," she said. "We have never compromised on quality, people know what they're getting and we've not suffered any downturn."
That being said they are always keen to monitor trends - bringing new products in to match demand or shifting focus depending on what's in vogue.
Dark chocolate, for example, is seen by many as a slightly healthier way to treat themselves and as a result Lily O'Brien's has brought more of those types of products to the fore.
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MORNING BRIEFS - Buy-to-let investors are increasingly taking out mortgages to acquire properties, according to consultants Savills.
Its latest report on the residential property market found that the majority of investment properties were still being bought by cash - however, there was a 9% rise in the number of mortgage drawdowns by investors last year.
This shift represents investors' willingness to take on debt to acquire more properties, and banks' willingness to once again loan to some buy-to-let customers.
The Savills report also notes that investors are generally favouring properties in central locations, particularly those close to third level institutions and transport links.
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Half of all Irish consumers would stop buying from a shop that had their bank details lost or stolen in a cyber attack.
A survey by Deloitte found that six in ten respondents would only make an online purchase if they felt confident that their data was secure - while three quarters would like to see businesses held responsible for the user data involved in a transaction.
Just over half of consumers actively control their privacy settings online, while only 42% said they understood how to control the level of information available about them.
Less than a third felt their mobile device was as secure as their laptop - but more than half of respondents said they felt comfortable checking their bank balance via mobile.
