Andes Chocolate Mints are small rectangular candies. The

crème de menthe Crème de menthe (, French for "mint cream") is a sweet, mint-flavored alcoholic beverage. It is available commercially in a colorless version (called "white") and a green version (colored by the mint leaves or by added coloring if made from ext ...

variety consists of one mint-green layer sandwiched in between two cocoa based chocolate flavored layers. The candies are usually wrapped in green foil and imprinted with the company's logo, the word ''

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

'' written amidst a drawing of snow-capped peaks. First launched in 1950, they are produced by

Tootsie Roll Industries Tootsie Roll Industries is an American manufacturer of confectionery based in Chicago, Illinois. Its best-known products include the namesake Tootsie Rolls and Tootsie Pops. Tootsie Roll Industries currently markets its brands internationally in ...

and made in

Delavan, Wisconsin Delavan is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,505 at the 2020 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee. The city is located partially within the Town of Delavan, but the two entities are politically i ...

History

In 1921, Andrew Kanelos opened a small candy store in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. While he initially called his store "Andy's Candies" in reference to himself, Kanelos realised that his predominantly male customers did not like giving boxes of candy with another man's name to their wives and girlfriends. As such, he changed the spelling of the business to "Andes Candies." The mints were first launched in 1950. In 1980, Andes was purchased by the Swiss candy company Interfood (later

Jacobs Suchard Jacobs () is a brand of coffee that traces its beginnings to 1895 in Germany by (1869 in , Bremen – 1958 in Bremen) and is today marketed in Europe by JDE Peet's. Major markets Major markets are Austria, the Baltic countries, North Macedoni ...

). When Jacobs Suchard bought

Brach's Brach's () is a candy and sweets brand of Ferrara Candy Company. History In 1904, Emil J. Brach invested his $1,000 life savings in a storefront candy store. He named it "Brach's Palace of Sweets" and it was located at the corner of North Avenu ...

in 1987, Andes became part of that division. When Jacobs Suchard was sold to

Kraft General Foods The second incarnation of Kraft Foods is an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. in 2012 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz in 2015. A merger with Heinz, arra ...

in 1990, Brach's was kept separate by owner Klaus J. Jacobs. In need of cash, Brach's sold Andes to

in 2000. They are made in

. In the United States, Andes mints are a popular after-dinner mint and are often distributed at restaurants, particularly

Olive Garden Olive Garden is an American casual dining restaurant chain specializing in Italian-American cuisine. It is a subsidiary of Darden Restaurants, Inc., which is headquartered in Orange County, Florida. As of 2012, Olive Garden restaurants accounted ...

. The mint used at Olive Garden is a special flavor manufactured exclusively for the restaurant chain, but it is tastewise similar to the Mint Parfait flavor, containing the same layers, but at different ratios.

Construction

Andes are a rectangular, thin chocolate bite. The

variety consists of three layers: two cocoa-based layers with green mint in the middle. The candies are usually wrapped in green foil and imprinted with the company's logo, the word ''

'' written amidst a drawing of snow-capped peaks. The most common Andes mint is 1.5 × 0.75 × 0.25 inches, weighs 4.75 grams, and contains 25 Calories. A larger size is also available, measuring 2 × 0.75 × 0.25 inches, weighing 9 grams, and containing 47.5 Calories.

Other flavors

* Amaretto (discontinued) * Cherry Jubilee * Mint Parfait * Toffee Crunch * Peppermint Crunch (offered seasonally) * Chocolatey Orange * Milk Chocolatey * Mint Cookie Crunch In 2007, the Andes ''Limited Edition Dessert Indulgence'' array was introduced. It offered an assortment of three new flavors. * Raspberry Cream * Lemon Meringue * Key Lime

Spinoffs

Andes Mints have been used in several other products including baking chips, ice cream, cookies, and cake rolls. Several

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredien ...

and

fast casual A fast casual restaurant, found primarily in the United States and Canada, does not offer full table service, but advertises higher quality food than fast food restaurants, with fewer frozen or processed ingredients. It is an intermediate concep ...

chains have offered Andes Mints in some of their offerings including:

Jack in the Box Jack in the Box is an American fast-food restaurant chain founded February 21, 1951, by Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) in San Diego, California, where it is headquartered. The chain has over 2,200 locations, primarily serving the West Coast ...

milkshakes,

Arby's Arby's is an American fast food sandwich restaurant chain with more than 3,300 restaurants system wide and third in terms of revenue. In October 2017, '' Food & Wine'' called Arby's "America's second largest sandwich chain (after Subway)". Ar ...

milkshakes, as a

Caribou Coffee Caribou Coffee Company is an American coffee company and coffeehouse chain. It was founded in Edina, Minnesota, Edina, Minnesota, in 1992. As of May 2015, the company operates 603 locations worldwide. It is headquartered in Brooklyn Center, Minne ...

cooler and as a featured topping in the topping bar at

Yogurtland Yogurtland is an American international frozen yogurt franchise headquartered in  Irvine, California, United States. Yogurtland provides self-serve frozen yogurt with active cultures, as well as other frozen desserts such as ice cream, sorbe ...

logo wrapped mint chocolates. The baking chips were introduced in the autumn of 2003 and include the mints' original design.In the decade following Andy's death (1959), the company was moved from Chicago to Delavan, Wisconsin. At the time, it was decided to close the retail side of the company and make only the Creme de Menthes for wholesale. The company was sold to Jakob Suchard in the 1980s before being acquired by its current owner. They also have multiple special edition products.

References

External links