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.[2]
Pearson's products are produced on five production lines in the company's Saint Paul plant. The company sells its Mint Patties and Salted Nut Roll nationally and its Nut Goodie and Bun Bars products in several Midwestern states. As of 2018, Pearson's was estimated to be the 42nd largest confectionery company in North America by revenue.[3]
History
Pearson family
The Salted Nut Roll is Pearson's flagship product.
Pearson's Candy Company was founded as a confectionery distribution firm in 1909 by P. Edward Pearson and his brothers, John and Oscar. Two more brothers, Waldemar and C. Fritz, joined the company several years later.[5] By 1935, W. G. Pearson was president of the firm.[6] The five brothers determined manufacturing would be more profitable than distribution and, in 1912, introduced their first confection, the Nut Goodie.[7]
Pearson's grew and began manufacturing for other companies, including Whitmans and Planters. Pearson's introduced the Salted Nut Roll in 1933, at the height of The Great Depression.[7] The success of the Salted Nut Roll prompted other manufacturers to mimic the confection. Pearson's subsequently changed the roll's name to the Choo Choo Bar, to distinguish the product. The Choo Choo name, however, was not as successful, and the original name was restored with the Pearson's logo more prominently displayed.[5]
By the end of World War II, the Pearson brothers had dropped the distribution aspect of the business. The youngest brother, William Pearson, joined the family business in 1944, as did George Pearson, son of founder P. Edward Pearson. In 1951, Pearson's acquired the Trudeau Candy Company, which brought Mint Patties and the Seven Up bar to Pearson's product line. The company moved to a new manufacturing plant at its current address in 1959.[7] In 1962, Pearson's acquired Milwaukee-based Sperry Candy Company, a company known for its Chicken Dinner Bar. Pearson's, however, sold Sperry Candy to the Schuler Chocolate Factory of Winona, Minnesota five years later.[8]
Ownership changes
The Pearson family sold the company in 1968 to ITT/Continental Baking, a New York firm. ITT/Continental Baking sold the company to an out-of-state confectionery partnership in 1979. During this time, sales declined due to problems with availability and product changes, such as a wrapper redesign and recipe change of the Nut Goodie.[5]
In 1985, the company was purchased by Larry Hassler and Judith Johnston. The company's previous owners had split up, causing the bank to offer the company in the leveraged buyout. The Nut Goodie's original wrapper and recipe were restored and, despite the loss of a label contract with General Mills to produce Nature Valley granola bars, which accounted for 1.4 million bars daily and 85 percent of the company's total tonnage, Pearson's became profitable again in December 1992.[9] In early 1998, Pearson's acquired the Bun Bar trademark from Clark Bar America. Pearson's introduced Flurries in 2004.[5]
In August 2011, Pearson's was acquired by Brynwood Partners IV, who sold their interest in Pearson's Candy to Spell Capital of Minneapolis, in November 2018.[3]
Products
Current products
A Pearson's Nut Goodie
Salted Nut Rolls are the company's best selling product,[10] and together with Mint Patties account for approximately 80 percent of the company's sales.[9] Mint Patties are sold nationally and Salted Nut Rolls are available in approximately 60 percent of the company's outlets. In late 2013, Pearson's acquired the Bit-O-Honey brand from Nestle USA, Inc.[11] Although the company sells its products primarily in the United States, it has ranked among the largest confectionery companies in the world,[12] and as of 2018, was estimated to be the 42nd largest confectionery company in North America by revenue.[3]
Pearson's utilizes 200 tons of peanuts, 400 tons of sugar, 100 tons of chocolate and 350 tons of corn syrup per month. Products are produced in the company's 120,000sqft (11,000m2) plant on five production lines.[14] Current products include:
Roll of nougat covered with caramel and salted peanuts
Discontinued products
Seven Up Bar
The Seven Up Bar was a candy bar comprising seven different chocolate "pillows", each filled with a different flavor. Flavors changed with the availability and popularity of ingredients, which included, among others, brazil nut, buttercream, butterscotch, caramel, cherry, coconut, fudge, mint, nougat and orange.[7] The high manufacturing costs and trademark issues with a soda manufacturer (The American Bottling Company, today Keurig Dr Pepper), caused the bar to be retired in 1979.[15]
Chicken Dinner Bar
The Chicken Dinner Bar had been a product of the Sperry Candy Company, which was acquired by Pearson's in 1962. The bar, introduced during The Great Depression, was so called in reference to President Herbert Hoover’s promise of “a chicken in every pot”.[16] The bar did not contain chicken or other poultry products, but was, rather, a chocolate-covered nut roll. Pearson's discontinued the bar's production after the acquisition.[15] Early TV commercials sang "Chick - Chick - Chick - Chick - Chicken Dinner" similar to, and in the cadence of a rooster crowing.[citation needed]
Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon. The design was modified by a commercial artist and has continued to change over the years.
York Peppermint Pattie is an American dark chocolate enrobed peppermint confection introduced in 1940 and currently produced by the Hershey Company.
Ferrero International SA, more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is a multinational company with headquarters in Luxembourg. Ferrero is a manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate producer and confectionery company in the world. Ferrero SA is a private company owned by the Ferrero family and has been described as "one of the world's most secretive firms". Reputation Institute's 2009 survey ranked Ferrero as the most reputable company in the world.
The Curtiss Candy Company is a defunct American confectionery brand and a former company based in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1916 by Otto Schnering near Chicago, Illinois. Wanting a more "American-sounding" name, Schnering named his company using his mother's maiden name.
Junior Mints are a candy brand consisting of small rounds of mint filling inside a semi-sweet chocolate coating, with a dimple on one side. The mints are produced by Tootsie Roll Industries, and packaged in varying amounts from the so-called 'fun-size box' to the much larger 12 oz. box.
Andes Chocolate Mints are small rectangular candies. The crème de menthe variety consists of one mint-green layer sandwiched in between two cocoa based chocolate flavored layers. The candies are usually wrapped in green foil and imprinted with the company's logo, the word Andes written amidst a drawing of snow-capped peaks. First launched in 1950, they are produced by Tootsie Roll Industries and made in Delavan, Wisconsin.
Farley's & Sathers Candy Company was created as an umbrella company to roll up many small companies, brands and products under a common management team. The confectionery business segment is made up of many small companies, often with intertwined relationships and histories.
Nut Goodie is a candy bar manufactured by Pearson's Candy Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota and available in the United States. It is a concoction of chocolate, maple-flavored creme, and peanuts and is distantly related in construction to Pearson's Bun candy bars. The Nut Goodie was once a 2 oz. bar and then shrunk to 1.75 oz., which has been its current size for the past 30 years [when?].
Bit-O-Honey is an American candy product; it first appeared in 1928 and was made by the Schutter-Johnson Company of Chicago, Illinois.
Salted Nut Roll is a candy bar made by the Pearson's Candy Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota and is available in the Midwestern United States.
The Hollywood Candy Company, or Hollywood Brands, was an American confectionery company formed in Hollywood, Carver County, Minnesota, in 1912 by Frank Martoccio.
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.
Brynwood Partners is an American private equity investment firm focused on leveraged buyout and other control investments.
Bun Bars are a line of candy bars manufactured by Pearson's Candy Company of Saint Paul, Minnesota, and available in the United States. Despite the name, Bun Bars are not bars at all, but actually round and flat, containing a disc made of maple or vanilla-flavored creme, or caramel, coated in milk chocolate and topped with a roasted peanut-chocolate cluster.
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.
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