Jelly Belly jelly beans — the tastiest candy from the USA
Jelly Belly Candy Co — an American confectionery company famous for its Jelly Belly jelly beans. They are available in 100 official flavors, including exotic ones: chocolate pudding, Piña colada, toasted marshmallow, and café latte. The flavors resemble real fruits, sweets, and popular cocktails with unimaginable accuracy. On the outside, the bean has a hard shell made of powdered sugar, and inside — soft jelly made from natural fruit juice or puree. It takes from 7 to 14 days to produce one bean.
16.05.2025
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Candy in a case
The jelly filling is a descendant of the ancient Eastern sweet — Turkish delight. And the signature sugar shell appeared as a result of the panning process developed in the 17th century in France. In America, these two processes were combined, resulting in the creation of modern dragees with a jelly filling.
Jelly beans do not contain harmful additives, animal fats, artificial preservatives, colorings, lactose, gluten, or nuts. They are suitable for children, for a kosher diet, for vegetarians and vegans, as well as for those watching their weight, because one candy contains only 4 kcal. Jelly Belly also produces sugar-free beans and beans for athletes containing carbohydrates and electrolytes.
Did you know? Pediatric nutritionists believe that gummy candy and jelly candies rank first on the list of permitted treats.
Empire of Sweets
In the summer of 1976, the company developed the first eight flavors of what later became known as Jelly Belly jelly beans. They were:
- green apple
- licorice
- soda
- cream soda
- lemon
- mandarin
- cherry
- grape.
By 1982, the flavor range had expanded to forty. Starting in 1977, Jelly Belly were shipped to Canada, from 1982 — to the UK, which laid the foundation for export development. Today, the jelly beans are sold in 80 countries around the world.
After Ronald Reagan was photographed with Jelly Belly beans during the election campaign, additional production capacity became urgently necessary. He then said that he had been able to quit smoking thanks to these jelly candies, and they became his passion. More than 3.5 tons of dragees were delivered to the White House for the celebration of his inauguration in 81.
The sweets were served to participants of cabinet meetings and foreign ambassadors, and in 1983 the president sent Jelly Belly beans to the astronauts of the shuttle «Challenger». They became so popular that the factories in California and Illinois operated around the clock, and retailers placed orders two years in advance.
Did you know? The most popular Jelly Belly bean flavors in the USA — red Cherry, yellow Butter Popcorn, and black Licorice.
By the mid-80s, the company had become the first American manufacturer of gummy bears and worms. Until the mid-1990s, the subsidiaries showed annual growth of 15%.
Riding the wave of popularity, the company increased production; in addition to the plant in North Chicago, a factory opened in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and the Fairfield plant doubled in size. It became a popular tourist destination, and in 1995 the plant was visited by 175,000 people annually. Its popularity prompted the company to enter the retail market and open the first branded Jelly Belly store.
The combined sales of the subsidiaries reached $100 million in the late 90s, 70% of which came from Jelly Belly. In 2001, they merged into a single corporation, Jelly Belly Candy Company.
Today, the Jelly Belly confectionery range includes candy corn, mint candies, gummy bears and worms, licorice pastilles, pectin drops, almonds, and a whole line of chewing gum. The company created its own version of M&M’s chocolate dragees in a candy shell, called JBz, which are available in a dozen flavors.
Did you know? The Jelly Belly logo is printed on 20 700 beans per minute using a special printing machine and white food coloring.
Jelly Belly Highlights
By combining several Jelly Belly flavors together, you can create new ones! For this, the website has a colorful recipe section. For example, to create «Caramel Popcorn» take two beans each of Chocolate Pudding and Buttered Popcorn, and for «Wedding Cake» you will need one bean each of Cotton Candy and Piña Colada, and two Vanilla-flavored ones.
In 2002, the company introduced Bertie Bott's beans from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series. In the magical collection, you might come across beans flavored like grass, dirt, rotten eggs, and soap. Especially for fans of the universe, Jelly Belly выпускает chocolate frogs with a crispy sweet rice filling and chocolate copies of magic wands, complemented by spells.
Did you know? Every second, 1,680 delicious Jelly Belly jelly beans are produced, which amounts to 15 billion per year! If this mountain of candy were laid out in a row, it could wrap around the Earth 5 times.
For the youngest sweet lovers, the company released a delicate Hello Kitty set, and for fans of comics and superheroes DС Comics — a whole collection of shimmering and sparkling beans from Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
In 2004, Jelly Belly's sales volume reached $125 million. The popularity of these candies inspires artists around the world to create mosaics made from thousands of Jelly Belly jelly beans. Portraits of famous figures and cartoon characters, realistic reproductions of famous paintings such as «Mona Lisa» by Da Vinci and «Starry Night» by Van Gogh have been exhibited in US museums and at the Jelly Belly Bean Art Gallery since 2011.
Of course, Jelly Belly beans are not easy to buy in Russia. So far, there is no official store in the country, and resellers mark up prices very heavily. In a U.S. online store, you can order all of the above sets at low prices. To order Jelly Belly beans from America, use the best intermediary for shipping goods from the USA — a mail forwarder from the USA Pochtoy.com. With us, you don’t have to worry that your package won’t arrive in time for the holiday or will get lost, and shipping costs from $11,99.
If you love sweets, take a look at the special section with American candy on our website. We can deliver an assortment of a wide variety of flavors to your post office for just $5,99. They are specially selected to go well together and come in beautiful gift packaging. Don’t miss the chance to try all the most desirable sweets from the USA!
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