Monday, November 6, 2023

Jelly Belly Sold to Candy Conglomerate Ferrara

Word came across this jelly bean fiend’s email not long ago that the Jelly Belly Candy Company had entered an agreement to sell the “iconic” (the words of the press release, not mine) bean-maker to Chicago-based Ferrara Candy. Those among us familiar with Ferrara’s version of jelly beans – Brachs and Sathers, for example – gasped in horror.

Although the Ferrara press release gushed about “beloved brands such as Black Forest®, NERDS, SweeTARTS, and Trolli”; folding the fifty-year-old Jelly Belly brand into a the bowels of a conglomerate wrapped within the framework of a worldwide confectionary holding company (Ferrero Brands) brings sad memories of many an “icon” sullied by a takeover specialist's drive to increase profits to cover a leveraged buyout.

Here at fiend HQ we’ve sampled many of the wares of Ferrara (see below), a company that appears to ship carloads of their beans from factories in Mexico. Suffice it to say, we anticipate a change in quality that would profoundly disappoint the late Ronald Reagan, himself a huge fan of JBs.

We’re shivering in our boots over here, guys.

Previous reviews of beans from Ferrara:

It's National Jelly Bean Day (Brach's Orchard Fruit)
Third Time's Not a Charm for Cheap Jelly Beans (Sather's Jelly Beans)
Unicorn Poop for the Unicorn Lover in Your Family (Brach's Miniature Unicorn Jelly Beans)
These just MIGHT be the Worst-Tasting Jelly Beans Ever (Brach's Funfetti Jelly Beans)

Friday, April 15, 2022

Bait and Switch in Jellybeanland

38th Street Snacks Jelly Beans

I was in the local "fresh foods" grocery last week and found a display of a brand of beans I'd never seen before. Given that the 11-ounce bags were on sale (marked down from $3.99 to $3.00), what was a jellybean fiend to do: ignore them? So I tossed them in my cart, figuring that they must be some sort of gourmet product. The plain bag, simple label, and "designer" price tag all convinced me that I'd be buying some sort of specialty brand when I picked up a pack of 38th Street Snacks Jelly Beans.

These just MIGHT be the Worst-Tasting Jelly Beans Ever

Brach's Funfetti Jelly Beans

Remember childhood hallowe'ens when you would eat everything in your bag within the first day... except for your least favorite candy? Maybe they were Necco Wafers. Maybe they were some unholy combination of chocolate and peanut butter. It's a matter of taste after all. I'm here to suggest, though, that if Brach's Funfetti Jelly Beans had been available when I was a kid, they might well have gone uneaten. Forever. Yeah, they taste that nasty...

Does Bigger Mean Better for Starburst?

Starburst Jumbo Jellybeans

To be honest, I've never been a fan of jumbo jelly beans, probably because most of them I've tried have come from tourist-trap souvenir shops and had the consistency and taste of stale cardboard. I'd rather eat a cheap bag plucked from a truck stop display, if you get my drift. Then again, Starburst jelly beans have been relatively reliable, so I decided that a bag of Original Starburst Jumbo Jellybeans was worth a try. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised.

More Heart-Shaped Beans for Valentines Day 2020

Jolly Rancher Jelly Hearts

Although Easter is the epicenter of jelly bean season, Valentine's Day seems to attract the creative minds of candy designers. Is there such a thing? I sure hope so... anyway, I've already commented on the heart-shaped beans made and sold by a couple of companies (Gimbals and Starburst), and this year I came across yet another variety: Jolly Rancher Jelly Hearts.

Unicorn poop for the unicorn lover in your family

Brach's Miniature Unicorn Jelly Beans

Unicorn Jelly Beans

I have it on good authority that unicorns poop candy. My good authority is a six-year-old girl; is there anyone more authoritative? Whatever the case, Brach’s must’ve heard the same thing: that’s probably why one of their two special jelly bean offerings for this year is Unicorn Jelly Beans. It’s a companion to Dragon Jelly Beans, which are presumably named on the authority of a six-year-old boy. Never mind the sexist notion…

When the dragon breathes...

Brach's Dragon Jelly Beans

Brach's dragon jelly beans

With Easter only a few days away, I’m having a heckuva time keeping up ith all the different bags of jelly beans that show up on store shelves. At the moment, there are three different open bags on the shelf and a fourth is waiting to be opened. And I haven’t even bought any Unicorn Jelly Beans yet!

The Jelly Bean Fiend