The Ferrara Candy Company (formerly Ferrara Pan Candy Company) is a candy company that makes a variety of candies. Their confections include Lemonheads, Brach's, Jaw Busters ("The Original Jaw Breakers"), Atomic Fireballs, Chuckles, Original Boston Baked Beans, Chewy Lemon Heads & Friends, Tropical Chewy Lemon Heads & Friends and Red Hots.

History

Salvatore Ferrara came from Nola, Italy to New York in 1899 at the age of 15. The Ferrara family had been bakers in Italy. In 1908 he opened a bakery at 772 W. Taylor, in the heart of Chicago's "Little Italy" neighborhood. He sold candy-coated almonds known as "confetti" (also known as Jordan almonds), a popular treat at Italian weddings.

When candy sales became greater than pastries, Ferrara partnered with two brothers-in-law, Salvatore Buffardi and Anello Pagano. They built a two-story brick building at 2200 W. Taylor and began producing a variety of panned candies. 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.

Nello Ferrara, the second generation of the family in the business, served as a military attorney and was involved with the war crimes trials in Japan in 1946. It was his visit to that devastated country that inspired the creation of Atomic Fireballs in 1954. 15 million are consumed weekly. The manufacturing facility moved to a former dairy in Forest Park in 1959 where it remains to this day.

Inspiration for the Lemonhead name came from Salvatore Ferrara seeing his grandson, Salvatore II, the third generation, after delivery. Salvatore II was a forceps baby and he noted that his new grandson's head was lemon-shaped. Lemonhead candies were introduced in 1962. Ferrara now makes 500 million Lemonheads per year.^[1]

In 2012, Ferrara Pan merged with Farley & Sather's Candies to form Ferrara Candy Company.

Ferrara Candy is now headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Ferrara Candy currently operates 11 manufacturing plants in the US and Mexico, as well as distribution centers around the US.

The company sells 92% of all mallowcremes in the US; it is the largest producer of candy canes; the largest seller of conversation hearts; 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 US as a whole. The company has between 700 and 800 pans operating at any given time...it is believed that no other US company has more than 150. It is claimed that the company produces a million pounds of gummy candy per week in 4 manufacturing plants, 2 in the US and 2 in Mexico.[85] The company employs approximately 1,000 people.

Culled from the efforts and innovations of numerous individuals who built and grew their products, processes, and companies; at their combined peaks these production companies had once utilized more than 5,000,000 square feet (460,000 m2), and employed more than 10,000 workers.

Timeline

• 1860s Henry Heide Candy Company begins business

• 1890s Farley Candy Company established

• 1904 Brach's Candies begins production in the backroom of a Chicago store. Brock's Candy of Chattanooga begins production of penny candies, peanut brittle and jelly candies.

• 1908 Ferrara Pan Candy is formed

• 1919 Bobs Candies is formed

• 1930s Sathers Candy Company begins operations

• 1980s Trolli Gummis begins production in the U.S.

• 1994 Brach's Candy purchases a controlling interest in Brock's Candy of Chattanooga

• 1995 Favorite Brands International created with purchase of Kraft Caramel, Marshmallow, Dinner Mints and Peanut Brittle businesses. Henry Heide, Inc is sold to Hershey Foods.

• 1996 Favorite Brands International acquires Farley Foods, Sathers Candy and Kidd Marshmallow businesses

• 1997 Favorite Brands International acquires Dae Julie and the Trolli Gummi businesses

• 2002 Catterton Partners form Farleys & Sathers Candy Company made up of assets from the former Farley Foods, Sathers Candy Company, and the Kraft Taffy business from Kraft; Chuckles and several other Henry Heide brands purchased from Hershey Foods.

• 2005 Farley & Sathers acquires the Trolli Gummi business, which had been part of the Favorite Brands group of products, from Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company, which had acquired it as part of a larger group of businesses from Kraft. Bob's Candies is acquired.

• 2007 Farley & Sathers acquires Brach's Candy

• 2012 Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Farley & Sathers merge and rename the new entity Ferrara Candy

Products

Brach's • A candy and sweets brand which produces and has invented many modern icons of the sugary world including Candy Corn, Conversation Hearts, Jelly Bird Eggs, Star Brite Mints, Royals, Bridge Mix, Malted Milk Balls, Double Dipped Peanuts and many, many more.

Lemonhead (candy) • Introduced in 1962, produced by the Ferrara Candy Company. Lemonheads are a round, lemon-flavored candy consisting of a sweet coating, soft sour shell, and a hard candy core. Other varieties include Appleheads, Grapeheads and Chewy Lemonheads & Friends varieties.

Chuckles • A soft jelly candy, covered in sugar and known for its original 5 colors (Red, Orange, Yellow,Green and Black). They are now made in a number of varieties including Mini’s, Red’s and seasonal varieties.

Now and Later • Bite sized sharable squares of taffy in nineteen different fruit flavors. They come in Original, Chewy and Splits varieties and are packaged in both multi pieced bars and assorted jars.

Bobs Candies • Soft Mints and Sticks, Candy Canes and Mint "Lumps"

Trolli (USA) • Weirdly awesome flavors, weirdly awesome shapes, weirdly awesome fun. Gummy candies that are both sour and sweet as well as delicious and demented.

Black Forest  • Real fruit juice snacks and treats in fun shapes; Gummy Bears, Gummy Worms and other varieties.

Red Hots  • a small cinnamon-flavored candy created and trademarked by the Ferrara Pan Candy Company in the 1930s

Atomic Fireball • a round, cinnamon-flavored hard candy invented by Nello Ferrara (1918–2012) in 1954. They are a form of jawbreaker. The outer layers of the candy are a bright red color while the interior layers are white.

Rainblo • The first gumballs made where the color on the outside matched the flavor on the inside. Available in regular Rain-blo and Jum-blo size.

Jujyfruit • Small, chewy, fruit flavored candies that come in fun fruit shapes & flavors like pineapple, raspberry, grape, banana and other citrus shapes. Also available are Jujubes which are a firmer candy dating back to 1920 in the traditional flavors of lemon, lime, violet, cherry and lilac.

Jawbuster • The original jawbreaker since 1919. They are created starting with a single grain of sugar and panned until they reach the full size. As they dissolve, they change color and flavor with each of the five layers.

Fruit Stripe • A chewing gum created in the 60’s loved for its juicy fruit flavor and scent. The package is known for the bright stripes and images of Yipes, the Zebra who has been the mascot of the gum for many decades.

Boston Baked Beans • a sugar-coated peanut candy.

Super Bubble • The original individually-wrapped bubble gum first introduced to the world in 1946 and still popular in classic original, grape, apple and watermelon flavors.

Sathers • (Farley & Sathers) Since 1936, A leader in the candy world offering all types of snacks including Gummies, jellies, chewy and hard candies. Packaged affordably and sold primarily at convenience stores.