Jelly Belly

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Jelly Belly Candy Company
Company typePrivate
Founded1869
HeadquartersFairfield, California
Key people
Herm Rowland, Chairman and CEO
Revenue$58.9 million[1]
Number of employees
650
Websitehttp://www.jellybelly.com/

The Jelly Belly Candy Company, or simply Jelly Belly, is a maker of jelly beans and other candy. Formerly known as The Herman Goelitz Candy Company,[2] Jelly Belly produces more than 34 million pounds of candy annually.[3] The company is based in Fairfield, California and has nearly 800,000 square feet of production space between its Fairfield and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin facilities.[4]

Jelly Belly makes many varieties of naturally flavored jelly beans, including juicy pear, watermelon, root beer, cherry and buttered popcorn. The jelly beans were most famously endorsed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who kept a jar of them on his desk in the White House and on Air Force One[5], and who also made them the first jelly beans in outer space, sending them on the 1983 Challenger shuttle as a surprise for the astronauts.[6]

History

David Klein (born in 1946) created the concept of a new kind of jelly bean that had not only a flavored shell, but a flavored jelly center.[7] He engaged the Goelitz Candy Company to manufacture it, where candy manufacturer Marinus van Dam was employed at the time. Marinus van Dam was born in Ooltgensplaat, a township in Oostflakkee, Netherlands, on October 24, 1929. After obtaining a candy manufacturing degree in the Netherlands, he emigrated to the United States and soon went to work for the Herman Goelitz Candy Company. He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business, Marich Confectionery.

When Marinus was asked how he developed the manufacturing of the Jelly Belly, he answered that most jelly beans at the time were cheap candy that had a 56% sugar content and were sold as penny candy. All jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored starch centers that were merely sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. He wondered how he could bring this candy to the adult market, and his solution was to enhance the jelly beans so that they would appeal to everyone. The centers for the new jelly bean were colored and flavored with real fruit juices and natural flavors. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. The finished Jelly Belly contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, was more flavorful, and consequently healthier than the generic jelly beans sold in stores.[8]

David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in a small ice cream parlor, Fosselman's, in Alhambra, California in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda. David Klein's newest creation is a super sour jelly bean called "Spanks."[9]

Products

Official 50 flavors

The 49-flavor assortment of jelly beans features all of the official 50 flavors except for jalapeño. (Not included because of transfer of jalapeño flavor to other beans)

Jelly Belly officially has 50 flavors that are made year-round. Seasonal flavors, such as candy cane, are only produced at specific times of the year. Additionally, Jelly Belly frequently produces "rookie" flavors that sometimes are added to the jelly beans in the 50 official flavors if they become popular enough. Here is a list of the current official 50 flavors[10]:

Rookie Flavor

Jelly Belly usually produces new prototype flavors that occasionally are added to flavors in the Official 50 group. Previous rookie flavors include:

The latest rookie is:

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are based on a product featured in the Harry Potter book series. As in the books, the jelly beans include many unlikely flavors, including sardine, spinach, black pepper, and vomit, as well as more conventional flavors like green apple, popcorn, and watermelon.[12] Flavors are routinely introduced and removed from the sets. The two newest flavors are sausage and dill pickle.[citation needed] To date, Jelly Belly has offered 27 flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans:

BeanBoozled

BeanBoozled jelly beans come in 20 flavors: 10 weird and wild flavors matched up with 10 look-alike tasty flavors. Hence, one might not know when he or she will be "bamboozled" by a weird flavor. A key on the back of each box gives clues to the surprises found inside, but the beans look so similar, every bite can catch one off-guard.[13] Released January 2008, the flavors (some of which have appeared in the Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans sets) include the following:

  • "Skunk Spray" which looks like the also included "Licorice"
  • "Pencil Shavings" which looks like the also included "Top Banana"
  • "Moldy Cheese" which looks like the also included "Caramel Corn"
  • "Baby Wipes" which looks like the also included "Coconut"
  • "Toothpaste" which looks like the also included "Berry Blue"
  • "Rotten Egg" which looks like the also included "Buttered Popcorn"
  • "Ear Wax" which looks like the also included "Cafe Latte"
  • "Booger" which looks like the also included "Juicy Pear"
  • "Vomit" which looks like the also included "Peach"
  • "Black Pepper" which looks like the also included "Plum"

Soda Pop Shoppe

In early 2007 Jelly Belly introduced Soda Pop Shoppe flavours based on soft drink brands marketed by Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages. The six flavours include Dr Pepper, 7-Up, A&W Root Beer, A&W Cream Soda, Orange Crush, and Grape Crush. They were available in now discontinued single flavour novelty pop bottle shaped containers and can still be had in mixed variety packages.

Sweet Rocks

In 2006 Jelly Belly made Sweet Rocks available in conjunction with the release of the animated movie The Ant Bully. Now discontinued, Sweet Rocks jelly beans included 4 Ant Bully flavors in a 20 flavor mix.

  • Aika Root
  • Lawn Clippings
  • Caterpillar
  • Ant Hill
  • Caramel Apple
  • Strawberry Jam
  • Very Cherry
  • Bubble Gum
  • Buttered Popcorn
  • Carmel Corn
  • Watermelon
  • Candy Floss
  • Lemon Drop
  • Red Apple
  • Grape
  • Top Banana
  • Tutti-Fruiti
  • Berry Blue
  • Chocolate Pudding
  • Toasted Marshmallow

Sugar-free jelly beans

Jelly Belly also produces sugar-free jelly beans that come in ten flavors:

In addition to sugar-free jelly beans, most varieties were formerly certified kosher and pareve by the KO organization[14] kosher service, which would make the product considered suitable for strict vegetarians as well. During Summer 2007, Jelly Belly announced that it would switch all of their products to the Orthodox Union ('OU') Kosher certification.[15]

Sport Beans

Sport Beans are a line of jelly beans specially formulated for athletes to consume during training or sports activity. They contain electrolytes, carbs, and vitamins B and C,[16] and they currently come in four flavors:

Extreme Sport Beans

In November 2007, Extreme Sports Beans were released. They are being marketed as "energizing" jelly beans, and they contain 50 mg of caffeine per serving.[17] These jelly beans come in two flavors:

Belly Flops

In the process of making Jelly Belly beans, they are dried. While drying, some of the beans stick together, making them not meet the standards of quality. These imperfect beans, rather than being scrapped, are repackaged as Belly Flops. Belly Flops are sold in either five ounce or two pound packages at the Jelly Belly factory, other select stores such as factory outlets, and online at the Jelly Belly Outlet. Five ounce packages can sometimes be found in dollar stores. Belly Flops come in mixes, and are not sold by the flavor.

JBz

JBz are a candy manufactured by The Jelly Belly Candy Company. They are chocolate candies with a flavored shell, similar to M&M's. The shell flavors are all based on Jelly Belly jelly bean flavors. There are five flavors designed to pair with the chocolate:

Fruit Gems

Jelly Belly now also makes Fruit Gems under license from Sunkist.

Unbearably HOT Cinnamon Bears

Jelly Belly also produces sugar-coated hot cinnamon candies in the shape of gummi bears.

Facilities

Entrance to the Jelly Belly Factory Tour

The Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California, was named "Best Factory Tour in America" by a 2005 Reader's Digest article. The daily tours, which are free for anyone, take visitors along suspended walkways over the rooms where the candy is manufactured, stopping them from time to time to watch video segments about what is going on below. Free samples are then distributed afterward. Visitors can also purchase bags of Belly Flops, imperfect jelly beans that didn't quite make it to specification.

A feature of the tour are several portraits made entirely of Jelly Belly jelly beans.[3]

Jelly Belly Factory Picture Gallery

Competitors

Jelly Belly's major competitors include Farley's & Sathers, JAKKS Pacific, and Mars, Inc.[18]

References

External links