Somewhere in Fairfield, California, there's a factory that makes jelly beans flavoured like buttered popcorn - and, on the very same production line, jelly beans flavoured like rotten eggs. That's Jelly Belly's world, and it took more than a century of family confectionery history to get there.
A German immigrant's candy business
Jelly Belly's roots go back to 1869, when Gustav Goelitz, who had emigrated from Germany, started a confectionery business in Belleville, Illinois. The company expanded through the following decades, and by the early 1900s was operating factories as far afield as Cincinnati and Chicago.
Herman Goelitz heads west
Gustav's son Herman Goelitz later moved to the West Coast to run his own business, Herman Goelitz Candy Company, which eventually settled in Oakland, California, in 1924. That company - run by later generations of the Goelitz and Rowland families - is the direct ancestor of today's Jelly Belly Candy Company.
The bean that gave the company its new name
In 1976, distributor David Klein worked with Herman Goelitz Candy Company, by then run by Herman Rowland, to launch a naturally flavoured jelly bean under the name "Jelly Belly", with flavour built into the centre of the bean rather than just the shell - a first for the format. The product was successful enough that the company officially renamed itself Jelly Belly Candy Company in 2001.
Building the BeanBoozled factory experience
Jelly Belly is now based in Fairfield, California, where the company runs public factory tours through its production lines - including the ones responsible for BeanBoozled, the "matching flavours" game launched in 2007 that pairs ordinary flavours like Buttered Popcorn with lookalike novelty flavours like Rotten Egg, daring people to guess which one they've picked.
Frequently asked questions
Who invented Jelly Belly jelly beans?
Jelly Belly beans were launched in 1976 by Herman Goelitz Candy Company, run by Herman Rowland, working with candy distributor David Klein, who came up with the Jelly Belly name and the idea of flavouring the bean's centre rather than just its shell.
When did the company become Jelly Belly Candy Company?
The company, previously known as Herman Goelitz Candy Company, officially changed its name to Jelly Belly Candy Company in 2001.
What is BeanBoozled?
BeanBoozled is a jelly bean game launched by Jelly Belly in 2007, pairing normal flavours with lookalike novelty flavours - such as Buttered Popcorn versus Rotten Egg - so players can't tell which one they're eating until they taste it.