Brach's Confections
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Brach's () is a candy and sweets brand of
Ferrara Candy Company The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group. The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sa ...
.


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 Avenue and Towne Street in Chicago, Illinois. With his sons Edwin and Frank, he started with one kettle. Investing in additional equipment he was able to lower his production costs and sell his candy for 20 cents per pound, well below the more typical 50 cents per pound his competitors were charging. By 1911, his production had reached 50,000 pounds per week. By 1923, Brach had 4 factories operating at capacity. Brach then invested $5 million in a new factory, beginning construction in 1921. It was built at 4656 West Kinzie Street, and it consolidated production into one building. At the time, they were producing 127 different varieties of candy and had a capacity of 2,225,000 pounds per year. Over the years, the Kinzie plant was expanded, and investments in new processes and equipment were made, including a chocolate grinding plant and a large panning operation. In 1948, an electrical spark ignited corn starch, causing a massive explosion on the plant's third floor that killed 11 employees and injured 18. Much of the factory's north side was destroyed. Reconstruction brought the plant's capacity up to more than 4 million pounds of product per year, and it employed 2,400 workers, in . It was recognized as the largest candy-manufacturing plant in the world at the time. At its peak, 4,500 employees worked there. The plant was abandoned in 2003 when new owners took over operations, and production was moved primarily to Mexico. An administrative building was blown up for a special effects scene in ''The Dark Knight'' Batman movie in August, 2007; the rest of the complex was demolished in 2014. Prior to
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Brach's produced several candy bars, including a chocolate-covered, honeycombed,
peanut butter Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Peanut butter is consumed in many countri ...
''Swing Bar'' as well as a mint and almond nougat bar. After the war, Brach's concentrated on bulk and bagged candies, and Halloween
Trick or treating Trick-or-treating is a traditional Halloween custom for children and adults in some countries. During the evening of Halloween, on October 31, people in costumes travel from house to house, asking for treats with the phrase "trick or treat". The ...
became a popular activity. Brach's promoted its candy corn and other fall-themed candies, available in single-serve, pre-packaged packets. In 1958, Brach's introduced the Pick-A-Mix concept. Customers could choose from a wide selection of items in bulk containers, scooping their choices, and paying one price per pound. This was adapted from the barrels seen in general stores at the time. Pick-A-Mix brought the dying traditional method of buying candy at the local corner or general store into the era of the modern supermarket. In 1966,
American Home Products Corporation Wyeth, LLC was an American pharmaceutical company. The company was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1860 as ''John Wyeth and Brother''. It was later known, in the early 1930s, as American Home Products, before being renamed to Wyeth in ...
purchased the company. In 1986, the last year of ownership by American Home Products, it accounted for two-thirds of the U.S. market for bagged candy and 7% of the $9 billion U.S. candy market. It employed 3,700 and had an estimated pretax profit of more than $75 millionArrogance Goeth Before A Fall. Amy Feldman. Forbes. September 30, 1991 on sales of $640 million. In 1987, Klaus Jacobs purchased the company for $730 million, and by the end of 1989, it was in serious trouble. Losses that year were an estimated $50 million and sales had decreased to $470 million. By 1993, sales had dropped to $400 million though losses were reduced somewhat to $26 million. All this occurred during a period when overall per capita candy consumption in the U.S. had increased 25%. By May, 1994, Brach's moved its headquarters from the plant property to a penthouse office in one of Chicago's wealthiest suburbs, saw a loss of nearly 900 jobs (42% of the workforce at that time), and suffered a loss of key customers and market share.E.J. Brach: A Misadventure in Candy Land. Dr. Robert Ginsburg, Xiaochang Jin, and Sheila McCann. Midwest Center for Labor Research. May, 1994 Klaus Jacobs almost immediately fired Brach's top officers and gutted the leadership of its sales, marketing, production and finance departments. Some of these positions were filled with executives from Suchard's European people with little experience in the candy industry. Former executives cited Jacobs Suchard's autocratic management style and inability to recognize the difference between American and European candy consumption habits. The name of the company was changed to Jacobs Suchard Inc., a name few retailers or consumers recognized, and product lines were trimmed from 1,700 to 400 in an attempt to cut costs. This alienated many of its largest customers, including
Walgreens Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, an ...
and
Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
, who found other sources, including Farley Candy. In addition to the cuts in product selection, Brach's also curtailed holiday promotional activities. In 1990, Phillip Morris purchased Jacobs Suchard for $3.8 billion, except for its U.S. subsidiary. A holding company named Van Houten & Zoon Holding AG was formed by Klaus Jacobs to run Brach and other businesses. Disagreements with Klaus Jacobs on marketing and management strategies continued, particularly over commodity vs. branded (Brach's) products. In 1993 alone, Brach's saw 3 different CEO's, and continued to experience a high rate of turnover and dismissals within the sales and marketing departments. Many of Brach's sales personnel left to work for its competitors.Signs of Trouble Dogging E.J. Brach. Frederick Lowe. Chicago Sun-Times. February 22, 1994 In September 1994, Klaus Jacobs purchased the Brock Candy Company of Chattanooga for $140 million, a year in which Brock Candy had sales of $112 million and profits of $6.5 million. This was the second attempt by the two companies to join together. The first time had been while E.J. Brach's was under American Home Products ownership. The merger attempt at that time was abandoned due to concerns of an antitrust suit. For a time the new company operated as the Brach and Brock Candy Company, later changed to Brach's
Confections Confectionery is the art of making confections, which are food items that are rich in sugar and carbohydrates. Exact definitions are difficult. In general, however, confectionery is divided into two broad and somewhat overlapping categories ...
. In 2003, Barry Callebaut AG purchased the new company. The principal owner of Brach's, KJ Jacobs AG, was also a majority stakeholder in
Barry Callebaut Barry Callebaut is a Belgian-Swiss cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer, with an average annual production of 2.3 million tonnes of cocoa & chocolate (fiscal year 2021/2022). It was created in 1996 through the merging of the Belgian ...
. As part of the deal, Barry Callebaut agreed to assume $16 million in debt, fund restructuring efforts for 5 years and paid a symbolic $1 (one dollar) for the company. In 2007, the company was sold to the Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, which in turn merged with the Ferrara Pan Candy Company in 2012 to form the
Ferrara Candy Company The Ferrara Candy Company is an American candy manufacturer, based in Chicago, Illinois, and owned by the Ferrero Group. The company was formed from a 2012 merger of the Illinois-based Ferrara Pan Candy Company and Minnesota-based Farley's & Sa ...
.


Products

The company's first product was
caramel Caramel ( or ) is an orange-brown confectionery product made by heating a range of sugars. It can be used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, or as a topping for ice cream and custard. The process of caramelizatio ...
s, which it produced through a process that allowed it to underprice competition, creating a large demand. This product is still a company mainstay to the present day, along with a large variety of other products, including a line of everyday products and special seasonal offerings.


Candy corn

Brach's
candy corn Candy corn is a type of small, pyramid-shaped candy, typically divided into three sections of different colors, with a waxy texture and a flavor based on honey, sugar, butter, and vanilla. It is a staple candy of the fall season and Halloween ...
is the number one selling candy corn product in the United States. It is mostly associated with
Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...
, but can also be bought year-round, though it is subject to seasonal availability. It is available in a wide variety of flavors, such as Pumpkin Spice, S'mores and Caramel.


Conversation Hearts

Brach's
Conversation Hearts Sweethearts (also known as conversation hearts) are small heart-shaped sugar candies sold around Valentine's Day. Each heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine", "Kiss Me", "Call Me", "Let's Get Busy", or "Miss You". Sweethearts were made ...
are small heart-shaped sugar candies sold around
Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and, throu ...
. Each conversation heart is printed with a message such as "Be Mine," "Kiss Me", "Call Me" and "Miss You". They are now being made in a number of sizes and themes including
Emoticon An emoticon (, , rarely , ), short for "emotion icon", also known simply as an emote, is a pictorial representation of a facial expression using Character (symbol), characters—usually punctuation marks, numbers, and letters—to express a ...
and Alphabet hearts.


Nougats

Brach's chewy sweet confections are available seasonally in different flavors. The flavors vary from year to year, but in recent years there have been Peppermint, Wintergreen, and Cinnamon for the Christmas season; Candy Corn flavored for Halloween, and Ice Cream flavors for
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
.


Jelly Bird Eggs

Brach's Original Jelly Bird Eggs are an Easter season mainstay. In addition to the Original mix, they are available in Spiced, Speckled, Orchard Fruit and Sour flavors. For the 2015 Easter season, they also released Tiny and Jumbo-sized versions of the Classic flavor mix.


Chocolates

In addition to the variety of seasonal products, Brach's is known for their long tradition of
chocolates Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civil ...
. Malt Balls, Double Dipped Peanuts, Chocolate Stars, Almond Supremes and the ever-popular Bridge Mix are among the many offerings. For Easter, the
Malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...
Balls are egg-shaped and covered in a speckled candy shell, in either a white, or pastel mix. They are called Fiesta Malted Milk Eggs.


Other candies

Brach's is known for year-round candies as well. Brach's Star Brite Mints are among the best-known of all of them. Also produced are Caramel Royals, Lemon Drops, Spice Drops and Maple Nut Goodies and many more. In the 1990's Brach's sold rock-shaped candies called Brach's Rocks, which featured a dinosaur mascot named Rocky D. The candies had a chewy, fruit-flavored center, with a candy coating made to look like pebbles.


See also

*
Helen Brach Helen Voorhees Brach (born November 10, 1911 – disappeared February 17, 1977) was an American multimillionaire widow whose wealth had come from marrying into the Brachs, E. J. Brach & Sons Candy Company fortune; she endowed the Helen V. Brach F ...


References


External links


Ferrara Candy Company websiteBrach's website
{{Farley's & Sathers Confectionery companies of the United States Brand name confectionery Farley's & Sathers Candy Company brands Ferrara Candy Company brands Companies based in DuPage County, Illinois Companies based in Dallas American companies established in 1904 Food and drink companies established in 1904 1904 establishments in Illinois