Jelly Belly history

The two companies reunited in 1978, becoming Herman Goelitz, Inc.

During his campaign for president in 1980, the press commented on Reagan's jelly bean habit, and Jelly Bellies suddenly got enormous exposure.

By 1981, the company was netting about $6 million from Jelly Bellies, and sales had started to go international.

Free floating, weightless Jelly Belly beans were sent on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983 as a presidential surprise for the astronauts.

Sales at Herman Goelitz had grown by about 15 percent annually since 1985, and the candy maker searched for new ways to continue its expansion.

The company opened a new plant and corporate headquarters in Fairfield, California, in 1986.

Goelitz factory tours were increasingly popular, drawing 175,000 people to the Fairfield factory in 1996.

In 1997, the company tried again to reach mass markets, hoping to expand its sales in that category from 15 percent to 25 percent.

International orders comprised about seven percent of sales by 1998, with sales concentrated in six countries.

Sales finally fell off somewhat in 1999 and competition increased, prompting a dec ision to postpone the building of the Wisconsin plant.

To keep up with its enormous growth, the company invested $40 million in a new factory in Wisconsin that was set to open in the year 2000.

Instead, $ 10 million was invested in a much-needed distribution center, which o pened in Pleasant Prairie in August 2001, while extra production capa city was found at the two existing plants.

In 2002 it introduced Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a product based on a candy featured in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series . A year later the company unveiled the candy-coated chocolate line c alled JBz.

With sales reaching $125 million in 2004, Jelly Belly appeared poised to enjoy ongoing growth, eventually requiring the con struction of a new plant on its Wisconsin property.