This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2023) |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Confections manufacturer |
Founded | 1932 |
Founder | B.E. Atkinson, Sr. Mabel C. Atkinson |
Headquarters | Lufkin, , |
Key people | Doug Hanks (COO) Eric Atkinson (President) Steve Ornell (VP of Sales & Marketing) Sarah Atkinson (Marketing Manager) |
Products | "Chick-O-Stick" "Coconut Long Boys" Peanut brittle Mint twists "Peanut Butter Bars" Holiday candy |
Website | atkinsoncandy |
The Atkinson Candy Company is a candy company based in Lufkin, Texas, best known for producing the Chick-O-Stick.
Atkinson Candy Company is a private company [1] founded in 1932 by B.E. Atkinson, Sr., and his wife, Mabel C. Atkinson. [2] It started when Basil E. Atkinson made two-day treks to Houston to purchase candy and tobacco, then he would sell it to mom-and-pop shops on the return trip. [3]
The company currently operates out of a 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) facility, and is led by Eric Atkinson, grandchild of the founders. [2] The third and fourth generations of the Atkinson family are now running the Atkinson Candy Company. [3]
In 1983, Atkinson purchased another local company, the Judson Candy Company, later known as Judson-Atkinson Candies, from the Pearl Brewing Company. [4] [5] Judson-Atkinson was founded in 1899, and was based in San Antonio, Texas. In 2011, Judson-Atkinson shut down business due to the high prices of sugar and raw materials. [6] Judson-Atkinson Candy Company used about four million pounds of sugar each year to make their bulk candies. [7]
Atkinson Candy Company specializes in peanut butter and peppermint-flavored candies. The current product line includes the Chick-O-Stick, Coconut Long Boys, peanut brittle, mint twists, Peanut Butter Bars, and holiday candy. Atkinson also produces a premium hard candy line known as Gemstone Candies. [2] [4] In 2013, Atkinson acquired the candies Black Cow, Slo Poke and Sophie Mae from The Warrell Corporation. [8] In 2019, they reached a licensing agreement with Spangler Candy Company to make the former Necco candy, Mary Janes. [9]
A chocolate bar is a confection containing chocolate, which may also contain layerings or mixtures that include nuts, fruit, caramel, nougat, and wafers. A flat, easily breakable, chocolate bar is also called a tablet. In some varieties of English and food labeling standards, the term chocolate bar is reserved for bars of solid chocolate, with candy bar used for products with additional ingredients.
Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Consumed in many countries, it is the most commonly used of the nut butters, a group that also includes cashew butter and almond butter.
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are an American candy by the Hershey Company consisting of a peanut butter filling encased in chocolate. They were created on November 15, 1928, by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for Milton S. Hershey. Reese left his job with Hershey to start his own candy business. Reese's are a top-selling candy brand worldwide, with more than $2 billion in annual sales.
A fluffernutter is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme usually served on white bread. Variations of the sandwich include the substitution of wheat bread and the addition of various sweet, salty, and savory ingredients. The term fluffernutter can also be used to describe other food items, primarily desserts, that incorporate peanut butter and marshmallow creme.
Necco was an American manufacturer of candy created in 1901 as the New England Confectionery Company through the merger of several small confectionery companies located in the Greater Boston area, with ancestral companies dating back to the 1840s.
The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core and coated in milk chocolate. It was introduced in 1917 by David L. Clark and was popular during and after both World Wars. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy bars followed the Clark Bar, the Butterfinger bar (1923) made by the Curtiss Candy Company and the 5th Avenue bar (1936) created by Luden's.
Sugar Daddy is a sucker manufactured by Tootsie Roll Industries that is essentially a moderately hard brick of caramel similar to a Slo Poke, the "All Day Sucker".
Bit-O-Honey is an American candy, introduced in 1924 by the Schutter-Johnson Company of Chicago. It is currently owned by the Bryan, Ohio-based Spangler Candy Company.
Chick-O-Stick is a candy produced by the Atkinson Candy Company that has been manufactured since the 1950s. It is made primarily from peanut butter, cane sugar, corn syrup, toasted coconut, natural vanilla flavor, and salt with no hydrogenated oils or artificial preservatives added. There is also a sugar-free version of the candy which uses Splenda as a sweetener.
The National Confectioners Association is an American trade organization that promotes chocolate, candy, gum and mints, and the companies that make these treats. NCA lobbies the American government in favor of the confectionery industry, evaluated at US$35 billion. Confections are produced in all 50 states. The association "annually hosts the National Candy Show in Chicago, as well as the Candy Hall of Fame". As of 2024, the Sweets and Snacks Expo will take place in Indianapolis.
Mary Jane is an old-fashioned peanut butter- and molasses-flavored taffy-type candy.
Pearson's Candy Company is an American chocolate and confectionery manufacturer headquartered in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Founded as a confectionery distribution firm in 1909, the company began to manufacture its own products in 1912. Originally a family-owned company, Pearson's experienced changes in ownership, acquisitions and product alterations in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, before its most recent sale in November 2018 to Spell Capital, a Minneapolis private equity firm.
Goetze's Candy Company, Inc. is an American confectionery company based in Baltimore, Maryland specializing in caramel-based candies. Goetze's was established in 1895 as the Baltimore Chewing Gum Company by August Goetze and his son, William. In 1917, the family developed a soft, caramel candy which ultimately evolved into their signature candy, Caramel Creams, a soft chewy caramel with cream filling in the center. Each candy is packaged in a predominantly clear wrapper and twisted at two red and white ends.
A candy pumpkin is a small, pumpkin-shaped, mellow crème confection primarily made from corn syrup, honey, carnauba wax, chocolate, and sugar. Traditionally colored with an orange base and topped with a green stem to make candy pumpkins largely identifiable with Halloween, a candy pumpkin is considered a mellow crème by confectioners since the candy has a marshmallow flavor. Sometimes called candy corn's first cousin, candy pumpkins are made through a starch casting process similar to that for candy corn. Brach's candy pumpkin, known by the trademarked name "Mellowcreme" Pumpkins, is the most popular candy pumpkin. Brach's Confections is now owned by Ferrara Candy Company.
The Spangler Candy Company is a privately owned international confectioner that has been manufacturing and marketing candy since 1906. Headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, Spangler's products include lollipops, candy canes, and marshmallow circus peanuts. Spangler brand names include Dum Dums, Saf-T-Pops, Whistle Pops, Spangler Candy Canes, and Spangler Circus Peanuts. Dum Dums were invented in 1924, and Spangler purchased the rights and equipment in 1953. The small multicolor lollipops are popular as free giveaways. In 2018, Spangler bought various assets and brands from the defunct Necco, retaining the rights to Necco Wafers, Sweethearts conversation hearts, and Canada Mints. In 2020, Spangler bought the rights to Bit-O-Honey from Pearson Candy Company.
The Charms Candy Company was a candy company founded in 1912 and sold to Tootsie Roll Industries in 1988. It was known for candies including Blow Pops and Charms.
A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with other ingredients, such as nuts, caramel, nougat, or wafers.
Gilliam Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer established in Paducah, Kentucky by Cleve Gilliam in 1927. They are known for making candy sticks.
The Warrell Corporation is a confectionery and snack food manufacturing company based in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.