Jelly Belly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2009)

Jelly Belly Candy Company

Type	Jelly Beans & Confections
Founded	1898
Headquarters	Fairfield, California
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Herman G. Rowland, Sr. Chairman of Board
Industry	Confections
Products	Jelly Beans and many other confections
Revenue	$58.9 million[1]
Employees	800
Website	http://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 (15000 tonnes) of candy annually.^[3] The company is based in Fairfield, California and has nearly 800,000 square feet (74,000 m²) of production space between its Fairfield , North Chicago, Ill., and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin facilities.^[3]

Jelly Belly makes many varieties of jelly beans, including Juicy Pear, Watermelon, A&W Root Beer, Very 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^[2], 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.^[2]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Mr. Jelly Belly, Jelly Belly's mascot 2 Products 2.1 Official 50 flavors 2.2 Rookie Flavor 2.3 Jelly Belly Sours 2.4 Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans 2.5 BeanBoozled 2.6 Soda Pop Shoppe 2.7 Sweet Rocks 2.8 Sugar-free jelly beans 2.9 Sport Beans 2.10 Extreme Sport Beans 2.11 Belly Flops 2.12 JBz 2.13 Fruit Gems 2.14 Jells and Fruit Sours 2.15 Jelly Belly Gourmet Soda 2.16 Gummi Bears. Gummi Worms and Unbearably HOT Cinnamon Bears 2.17 Discontinued flavors 3 Facilities 4 Jelly Belly Factory Picture Gallery 5 Competitors 6 References 7 External links

History

David Klein (born in 1946) created the marketing concept of a new kind of jelly bean to be sold in single flavors^[4] in 1976.^[5] He approached the family operating Herman Goelitz Candy Company to manufacture it. Fourth generation Goelitz descendent Herman G. Rowland, Sr., and his parents had decided to expand the company's products more than a decade before. The company was the first American manufacturer to make a gummi bear for the US market. They also made candy corn, mellocremes, gummi worms, giant jelly beans and mini jelly beans, which were the precursor to the famous Jelly Belly jelly bean. Confectioner Marinus van Dam was employed by the company to manage the plant and oversee new product development with Herman Rowland. 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 went to work for the Herman Goelitz Candy Company in the 1960s. He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business, Marich Confectionery.

Traditional jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored pectin centers that were merely sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. The third and fourth generation of the candy family decided to produce a superior jelly bean to set itself off from traditional jelly beans. The centers for the company's mini jelly bean were colored and flavored. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. With the new generation of Jelly Belly beans the company used real fruit juices and natural flavors when possible to boost the taste experience further. The finished Jelly Belly beans contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, and were more flavorful than the generic jelly beans sold in stores.^[2]

David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in an ice cream parlor, Fosselman's, in Alhambra, California in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape Jelly, Licorice, A&W Root Beer, and A&W Cream Soda.

Mr. Jelly Belly, Jelly Belly's mascot

The company's official mascot is Mr. Jelly Belly, an anthropomorphic cartoon jellybean character with a face. He appears on the packaging and marketing since his introduction in 1996.

Products

Official 50 flavors

Jelly Belly officially has 50 flavors (originally 40) 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.

Rookie Flavor

Jelly Belly usually produces new prototype flavors that occasionally are added to flavors in the Official 50 group. Previous rookie flavors that have since been withdrawn from the market include:

• Apricot
• Buttered Toast
• Chocolate Cherry Cake
• Graham Cracker
• TABASCO Cinnamon
• Baked Bean
• Roasted Garlic
• Pumpkin Pie

The latest rookies are:

• Dark Chocolate

Jelly Belly Sours

Jelly Belly makes ten sour flavors of Jelly Belly beans, sometimes found in single flavors, but most often packaged in dedicated boxes and bags:

Sour Cherry Sour Watermelon Sour Blueberry Sour Lemon

Sour Orange Sour Peach Sour Strawberry

Sour Raspberry Sour Grape Sour Apple

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans

Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans were based on a product featured in the Harry Potter book series. The company discontinued this line in 2007.

BeanBoozled

BeanBoozled jelly beans come in 20 flavors.^[6] 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 shares the appearance of the original flavor "Licorice"
• "Pencil Shavings" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Top Banana"
• "Moldy Cheese" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Caramel Corn"
• "Baby Wipes" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Coconut"
• "Toothpaste" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Berry Blue"
• "Rotten Egg" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Buttered Popcorn"
• "Ear Wax" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Cafe Latte"
• "Booger" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Juicy Pear"
• "Vomit" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Peach"
• "Black Pepper" which shares the appearance of the original flavor "Plum"

Soda Pop Shoppe

In early 2007 Jelly Belly introduced Soda Pop Shoppe flavors 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 are available in single flavour novelty pop bottle shaped containers and 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.

Sugar-free jelly beans

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

Cherry Sizzling Cinnamon Green Apple Juicy Pear Lemon Licorice Buttered popcorn Strawberry Tangerine

In addition to sugar-free jelly beans, all varieties are certified OU Kosher by the Orthodox Union.^[7]

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,^[8] and they currently come in four flavors:

• Lemon lime
• Orange
• Fruit punch
• Berry blue

Extreme Sport Beans

In November 2007, Extreme Sports Beans were released. They are being marketed as "energizing" jelly beans, and they contain electrolytes, vitamins and 50 mg of caffeine per serving.^[8] These jelly beans come in two flavors:

• Cherry
• Watermelon

Belly Flops

In the process of making Jelly Belly beans some of the beans stick together, are too large or too small, 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:

• Cappuccino
• Fudge brownie
• Coconut
• Vanilla
• Caramel

Fruit Gems

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

Jells and Fruit Sours

The Fruit Sour balls come in grape, cherry, orange, lemon, and apple. They have a jell center, soft panned shell and each have a "sour" flavor. Each ball is about the size of an old fashioned gumball. In addition the company makes Raspberries & Blackberries, Champagne Bubbles, pectin jells and Jelly Belly Fruit Snacks.

Jelly Belly Gourmet Soda

Jelly Belly Gourmet Soda is a new gourmet soda line that was introduced with WIT beverages in October 2009. ^{[9] [10]} Made with cane sugar and containing 90 calories per bottle, the new line has nine flavors, including: Lemon Drop, Sour Cherry, Blueberry, Green Apple, Crushed Pineapple, Tangerine, Juicy Pear, Strawberry, and Very Cherry. ^[9]

Gummi Bears. Gummi Worms and Unbearably HOT Cinnamon Bears

Jelly Belly was the first US company to make a gummi bear in the 1970s. Prior to that gummi bears were imported from European confectioners. Jelly Belly also produces sugar-coated hot cinnamon candies in the shape of gummi bears, a line of gummi and sour gummi worms, novelty large gummies in the shape of crocodiles, dinosaurs, rats and tarantulas.

Discontinued flavors

• Café Latte
• Caramel Apple
• Champagne punch
• Grape Jelly
• Hawaiian Punch
• Jalapeño
• Peanut Butter
• Peppermint stick

Facilities

The company operates two manufacturing plants in Fairfield, Calif., and in North Chicago, Ill. A third facility is a distribution center in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., which offers public tours.

The Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California, has daily tours and was named "Best Factory Tour in America" by a 2005 Reader's Digest article. The 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 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, including Republican presidents Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr. and Abraham Lincoln, Republican California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and President George Washington. [2]^[11]

Another public tour in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., operates daily and takes visitors on an indoor electric train ride through the facility to learn how candy is made, see retired manufacturing equipment and watch shipping.

Jelly Belly Factory Picture Gallery

A large Jelly Belly balloon greets visitors to the Jelly Belly factory	A portrait of Ronald Reagan made of Jelly Belly jelly beans is displayed at the visitor center.	This Jelly Belly portrait of Arnold Schwarzenegger sits opposite the one of Ronald Reagan at the entrance to the visitor center	Visitors proceed up the stairs to begin the tour of the factory
Some of the festive decorations at the visitors center

Competitors

Jelly Belly's major competitors include Farley's & Sathers, Hershey's Jolly Rancher brand, Brachs, and Mars, Inc.

References

External links

• Jelly Belly Candy Company