Exploring | the Jelly Belly Candy Co.
Formerly known as The Herman Goelitz Candy Company, The Jelly Belly Candy Company, or simply Jelly Belly, is one of the most popular confectionery manufacturers in the world. It is producing more than 15000 tonnes of the stuff every year from their manufacturing plants in Fairfield (California), North Chicago (Illinois) and Pleasant Prairie (Wisconsin) facilities.
Originally devised by David Klein, who created the marketing concept of a new kind of jelly bean to be sold in single flavours. Herman G. Rowland Sr, a fourth generation Goelitz descendant welcomed the idea. He along with his parents had already decided to expand the company’s products more than a decade earlier. (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. Most noteworthy, which were the precursor to the famous Jelly Belly Jelly Bean).
Traditionally jelly beans started out with plain, uncoloured pectin centres that were merely sweetened with sugar. Moreover, only the outer candy coating was coloured and flavoured.
The company employed Dutch Confectioner Marinus van Dam to manage the plant and oversee new product development. However, together with Herman G. Rowland Sr and David Klein increasingly became passionate about producing a superior jelly bean. To set itself off from its traditional jelly bean rival. Their vision was to produce a mini-sized Jelly Bean. Moreover, that had not only a coloured and flavoured centre but also a coloured and flavoured outer candy shell. As a result, they also used real fruit juices and natural flavours whenever possible to boost the taste sensation further.
In a further competitive advantage, the finished Jelly Belly Jelly Beans contained around only half the sugar content of most regular jelly beans. And, the jelly beans were decidedly more flavorful than any of their generic jelly bean rivals that were available in stores at that time. David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly Jelly Beans in Fosselman’s, an ice cream parlour in Alhambra, California in 1976. The first flavours were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape Jelly, Licorice, A&W Root Beer, and A&W Cream Soda. Today the yearly consumed Jelly Beans are enough to circle the earth no less than FIVE times! Furthermore, Jelly Belly produces 50 Official flavours. The most popular of which is Very Cherry. For a free factory tour visit this link below.
