Ferrara Candy Company

Last updated
Ferrara Candy Company
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Confectionery
Headquarters Forest Park, Illinois, US
Area served
Worldwide
Brands Brach's [1]   Lemonhead [2]   Chuckles [3]   Now and Later [4]   Bobs Candies   Trolli USA   Nerds [5]   Black Forest [6]   Sathers   Red Hots [7]   Atomic Fireball [8]   Super Bubble   Rainblo   Jujyfruits [9]  Jaw Busters  Fruit Stripe   Boston Baked Beans [10]   Heide Candy Company   Baby Ruth   Butterfinger   Crunch   Chunky   Laffy Taffy [11]   Raisinets   Oh Henry!   100 Grand   Trolli [12]   Nips   Everlasting Gobstopper   Spree (candy) [13]   Fun Dip [14]   Bottle Caps [15]   Runts [16]   Pixy Stix [17]   SweeTarts [18]   Sno-Caps   Goobers [19]   Jelly Belly [20]   Dori [21]   Stretch Island [22]   Funables [23]
Parent Ferrero
Website www.ferrarausa.com

The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group.

Contents

The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sathers Candy Company. Ferrara's product line includes the brands of Ferrara-branded pan candy (such as Lemonheads, Atomic Fireballs, Red Hots, and Original Boston Baked Beans) and those of Farley's & Sathers (such as Brach's, Chuckles, Jujyfruits, and Now and Later). In November 2017, The Ferrero Group announced that they were going to acquire the company, [24] which was finalized in December 2017. [25]

In 2018, Ferrara's parent company Ferrero SpA purchased Nestlé's U.S. candy line for $2.8 billion and handed responsibility for most products to Ferrara. Former Nestlé products now distributed in the U.S. by Ferrara include Butterfinger, Crunch, Baby Ruth, Raisinets, Nips, Laffy Taffy, and hard candy (such as Spree and Everlasting Gobstopper) formerly produced by Nestlé under the Willy Wonka brand. [26] Two exceptions are Nestlé's Kit Kat and Rolo lines, which are licensed to the Hershey Company. [27]

Ferrara announced it was moving its world headquarters to Chicago in 2019. [28]

History

The Ferrara family had been bakers in Italy. Salvatore Ferrara emigrated from Nola to New York in 1900. [29] In 1908, he opened a bakery at 772 W. Taylor, in the heart of Chicago's "Little Italy" neighborhood. [30] He sold candy-coated almonds known as "confetti" (or Jordan almonds), a popular treat at Italian weddings. [29]

When candy sales became greater than pastries, Ferrara partnered with two brothers-in-law, Salvatore Buffardi and Anello Pagano. [31] They built a two-story brick building at 2200 W. Taylor and began producing a variety of panned candies. [29] The second floor of the building was devoted to the revolving kettles that produced the pan candy, with all of the machines being driven by a giant wheel. The candy was dropped to the shipping department below through a hole in the floor.

The private equity firm Catterton Partners, owner of Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, arranged the 2012 deal whereby that well-established confectioner would merge with the Ferrara Pan Candy Company. Although Ferrara Pan Candy was only about half the size of Farley's & Sathers, the new company was christened the Ferrara Candy Company and placed under the leadership of Ferrara Pan Chief Executive Salvatore Ferrara II. [32]

Ferrara Candy is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It operates seven manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Mexico, as well as distribution centers around the United States.

The company sells 92% of all mellowcremes in the U.S.; it is the largest producer of candy canes, the largest seller of conversation hearts and produces a large portion of the jelly beans that are consumed in the United States. The company has 21 starch moguls, of 40 in the U.S. as a whole. The company has between 700 and 800 pans operating at any given time. It states that it produces 1 million pounds of gummy candy per week in four manufacturing plants, two in the U.S. and two in Mexico. The company employs approximately 6,000 people.

Timeline

Jujyfruits Ferrara-Candy-Jujyfruits.jpg
Jujyfruits

Products

Boston Baked Beans (candy-coated peanuts) Ferrara-Pan-Boston-Baked-Beans.jpg
Boston Baked Beans (candy-coated peanuts)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nerds (candy)</span> American confection launched in 1983

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Laffy Taffy is an American brand of taffy candies produced by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. The candies are small, individually wrapped taffy rectangles available in a variety of colors and fruit flavors, including banana, strawberry, green apple, grape, blueberry, watermelon, blue raspberry, and cherry. Rarer flavors include caramel apple, coconut, strawberries & cream, apple crisp, chocolate mousse, pumpkin donut, pineapple, guava, orange sorbet, and lemon raspberry. Discontinued flavors include fruit punch, mango, strawberry banana, peppermint, and hot cocoa.

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Trolli is a German manufacturer of confectionery. Its American arm was sold in 1996 and became a confectionery brand used by Ferrara Candy Company. Trolli sells gummy candies, marshmallows, and soft licorice gums in over 80 countries and has factories in Germany, Spain and China.

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References

  1. https://www.brachs.com/
  2. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/lemonhead
  3. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/chuckles
  4. https://www.nowandlater.com/
  5. https://www.nerdscandy.com/
  6. https://www.blackforestusa.com/
  7. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/red-hots
  8. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/atomic-fireball
  9. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/jujyfruits
  10. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/boston-baked-beans
  11. https://www.laffytaffy.com/
  12. https://www.trolli.com/
  13. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/spree.html
  14. http://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/fun-dip
  15. https://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/bottle-caps
  16. http://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/runts
  17. http://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/pixy-stix
  18. https://www.sweetartscandy.com/
  19. http://www.ferraracandyshopusa.com/brands/gobstopper
  20. https://www.jellybellyintl.com/
  21. https://dori.com.br/en/
  22. https://www.ferrara.com/brands
  23. https://www.funablessnacks.com/
  24. "Ferrero to Acquire U.S. Confectionary Company". www.ferrarausa.com. November 1, 2017. Archived from the original on December 5, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017. The Ferrero Group [...] today announced [...] a Ferrero affiliated company will acquire Ferrara Candy Company [...] The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017.
  25. "Ferrero Completes Acquisition of Ferrara Candy Company". 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  26. "Ferrero Completes Acquisition of Nestlé USA's Confectionary Business". Business Wire (Press release). 31 March 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  27. "Who owns kitkat? - AIRPORTES". 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  28. Ori, Ryan. "Ferrara Candy confirms its headquarters will move to Chicago's Old Post Office". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  29. 1 2 3 Dominic Candeloro (2003). Chicago's Italians: Immigrants, Ethnics, Americans. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 128–. ISBN   978-0-7385-2456-6.
  30. Peter N. Pero (January 2009). Chicago Italians at Work. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 50–51. ISBN   978-0-7385-6187-5.
  31. Leslie Goddard (2012). Chicago's Sweet Candy History. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 34–. ISBN   978-0-7385-9382-1.
  32. Hughlett, Mike (May 24, 2012). "Farley's & Sathers to merge with Ferrara Pan". Star Tribune. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  33. "Ferrara Candy to be acquired by Nutella maker Ferrero". Chicago Tribune. 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  34. "Ferrara Candy acquiring Brazilian sweets and snacks maker". Food Business News. July 25, 2023. Retrieved 2023-12-12.
  35. "Ferrara to acquire Jelly Belly for undisclosed sum". FoodBev Media. 2023-10-19. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  36. "Atomic Fireballs". -balettiedotcom-. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
  37. "BlackForest". www.ferrarausa.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-04.