Marinus van Dam (October 24, 1929 – January 6, 1997) was one of the first employees at

The Herman Goelitz Candy Company Jelly Belly Candy Company, formerly known as Herman Goelitz Candy Company and Goelitz Confectionery Company, is an American company that manufactures Jelly Belly jelly beans and other candy. The company is based in Fairfield, California, with ...

. He is considered by some sources to have been the inventor of the jelly belly jelly bean.''Baltimore Sun'' obituary for Dam
/ref> Marinus van Dam was born in

Ooltgensplaat Ooltgensplaat is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Goeree-Overflakkee, and lies about 17 km south of Spijkenisse. History The village was first mentioned in 1554 as Oitkensplate, and me ...

, a township in

Oostflakkee Oostflakkee () is a former municipality on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland. The former municipality covered an area of about 107 km² (of which about 33 km² was covered by wa ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He immigrated to the United States after obtaining a candy manufacturing degree in the Netherlands and soon went to work for the Herman Goelitz candy company after arriving in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. He rose to the level of vice president before moving on to other companies and finally starting his own business

Marich Confectionery Marich Confectionery (pronounced "Mahr-ich") is a U.S.-based confectioner that was established in 1983 by Marinus van Dam, creator of the Jelly Belly brand of Jelly bean, jelly beans. The company's operations are located in Hollister, California ...

. When Marinus was asked how he developed the manufacturing of the Jelly Belly, he answered that most jelly beans at the time were cheap candy that had a 56% sugar content and were sold as penny candy. All jelly beans started out with plain, uncolored starch centers that were merely sweetened with sugar. Only the outer candy coating was colored and flavored. He wondered how he could bring this candy to the adult market which David Klein had envisioned, and his solution was to enhance the jelly beans so that they would appeal to everyone. The centers for the new jelly bean were colored and flavored with real fruit juices and natural flavors. This flavor enhancing process was also used on the outer candy shell. The finished Jelly Belly contained about half the sugar of the regular jelly bean, was more flavorful, and consequently healthier than the generic jelly beans sold in stores. Marinus developed the recipes under David Klein's direction of concept. David Klein's the inventor and founder of Jelly Belly® jelly beans .David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in a small ice cream parlor in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from " Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains t ...

in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda. Marinus died on January 6, 1997, but the candy he helped create continues.

Sources

1929 births 1997 deaths Businesspeople in confectionery 20th-century Dutch businesspeople Dutch emigrants to the United States People from Oostflakkee 20th-century American businesspeople {{netherlands-business-bio-stub