How It all began?

The roots of a jelly bean can be traced all the way back to a family named Goelitz in 1869. The family's tradition of making candy when two young bros. emigrated from Germany to make their mark in the land of opportunities, the United States of America. Till now, the grandsons of Gustav and Albert are still carrying on the tradition of manufacturing top quality candy.

The Goelitz family got its start by making "buttercream" candies, which carried them through the Great Depression and two World Wars. This also includes the Halloween favorite, the Candy Corn. Although the ancestors of Jelly Bean did not appear until the turn of the century, jelly candies of one kind to another have been introduced since the dawn on time.

A little fact that I think you may be interested. "Turkish delight," which is basically sugar and rosewater jelled and cut into cubes, has been the kids' favorite since the Roman times.

When the penny candy craze came along in the end of 19^th century, candy makers began experimenting with tricky sugar candies, such as gumdrops, jelly beans and jawbreakers, made with a new process through the usage of a panning equipment.

Although the penny candy boom waned a bit when America fell in love with chocolate in the early 20^th century, there was a real chocolate shortage when most chocolate went to overseas troops during World War II. So people in the US once again discovered their urge for non-chocolate sweet treats like the common candy store jelly beans.

The Birth of the Gourmet Jelly Bean

The idea first was brought up in Los Angeles at around 1976, just next door to Hollywood, the home of countless famous movies star is also the birthplace of the original gourmet jelly bean. So, back in 1976, an L.A. candy and nut distributor had an idea for a jelly bean made with natural flavorings. Thus he called up the folks at Herman Goelitz in Oakland, Ca. (Where the first gourmet jelly bean was made), who had been making special jelly beans since 1965.

Making the change to "true-to-life" flavors was a "naturalization" evolution. The people at Goelitz set in motion a great effort to come up with a new kind of jelly bean, intensely flamored thoughout, with natural ingredients for flavoring whenever possible. In 1976, the first eight Jelly Bean flabors were born" Cherry, Lemon, Cream, Soda, Orange, Green Apple, Root Bear, Grape, and Licorice.

The rise of Jelly Bean

As soon as the first gourmet Jelly Bean was born, it started attracting attention. Jelly Bean was named America's Best Jelly Bean in C. Paul Luongo's book, "America's Best 100!," and became the favorite candy of famous celebrities like Larry King and Jeane Dixon. And then, president Ronald Reagan made Jelly Bean a staple in the Oval Office and on Air Force One. President Reagan's passion for Jelly Beans inspired the Blueberry flavor, which was invented so he could serve red, white, and blue beans at his inaugural party.

Today, Herman Goelitz, Inc. provides the #1 gourmet Jelly Bean, available in 35 countries and worldwide.