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Necco (or NECCO ) was an American manufacturer of candy created in 1901 as the New England Confectionery Company through the merger of several small confectionery companies located in the
Greater Boston Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston (the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England) and its surrounding areas. The region forms the northern ar ...
area, with ancestral companies dating back to the 1840s. In May 2018, Necco was sold for $17.33 million to Round Hill Investments LLC, run by billionaire
C. Dean Metropoulos Charles Dean Metropoulos ( el, Ντιν Μητρόπουλος; born May 1946 in Tripoli) is a Greek-American billionaire investor and businessman. He was the owner of Pabst Brewing Company, which was founded by Jacob Best in 1844. On the ''Forb ...
; Round Hill Investments then went into a bankruptcy auction in May, 2018, with
Spangler Candy Company The Spangler Candy Company is a privately owned international confectioner that has been manufacturing and marketing candy since 1906. Headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, Spangler's products include lollipops, candy canes, and marshmallow circus peanu ...
being the winning bidder. The company was best known for its namesake candy,
Necco Wafers Necco Wafers are a sugar-based candy, sold in rolls of variously flavored thin disks. First produced in 1847, they became the namesake and core product of the now-defunct New England Confectionery Company (Necco), which operated near Boston, Mas ...
(originally called "Hub Wafers") dating back to 1847. Other prominent products have included its seasonal Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, and brands such as the
Clark Bar The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core (originally with a caramel center) and coated in milk chocolate. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy ...
,
Haviland Thin Mints Haviland Thin Mints are a chocolate-covered mint candy produced by Log House Foods of Plymouth, Minnesota. The candy is a mint fondant covered in dark chocolate, similar to the York Peppermint Pattie but smaller, thinner and shorter. The brand ...
and
Sky Bar Sky Bar is an American candy bar introduced by Necco in 1938, discontinued in 2018, and reintroduced in 2019 by the Sky Bar Confectionary Company. Each Sky Bar has four sections, each with a different filling—caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudg ...
.


History


Formation

Necco dated its origins to Chase and Company, a company founded by brothers Oliver R. and Silas Edwin Chase in 1847. Having previously invented and patented the first American candy machine, the Chase brothers continued to design and create machinery that made assortments of candies, such as their popular sugar wafers.


1900s

Two other confectionery companies, Ball and Fobes, founded by confectioner Daniel Fobes in 1848, and Bird, Wright and Company, a confectionery company based in Boston and founded in 1856, joined forces with Chase and Company in 1901 to become the three members of the original Necco family. The three confectionery firms then moved into a newly constructed manufacturing plant in the Fort Point
South Boston Waterfront South Boston is a densely populated neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located south and east of the Fort Point Channel and abutting Dorchester Bay. South Boston, colloquially known as Southie, has undergone several demographic transformati ...
area of
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...
, one year later and became the largest establishment devoted entirely to confectionery production 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 ...
. The Boston Wharf Company developed the 1902 complex of four five-story buildings at 253 Summer Street and 11-37 Melcher Street. BWC named the adjacent streets Necco Court, Necco Street, and Necco Place. In 1907, 5 and 6 Necco Court were added behind the existing complex, connected by a four-story interior bridge. With nearby rail and water transportation, BWC specialized in shipment and storage of sugar and molasses. The
Domino Sugar Domino Foods, Inc. (also known as DFI and formerly known as W. & F.C. Havemeyer Company, Havemeyer, Townsend & Co. Refinery, and Domino Sugar) is a privately held sugar marketing and sales company based in Yonkers, New York, United States, that ...
factory was also located nearby. Success prompted the company, in 1906, to introduce a profit sharing plan. Necco continued its production while the confectionery industry continued to boom through the turn of the century. Around the same time, businessman David L. Clark began experimenting with his own candy creations in his home outside of
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
,
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. He began selling the Clark candy bar for five cents and shipping his creation to soldiers fighting in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. At the same time, Charles Miller started a business manufacturing and selling homemade candy in the Boston area. Clark's creation and Miller's Mary Jane quickly become two of the most popular candy creations in the country. In 1927, Necco moved into a new factory on
Massachusetts Avenue Massachusetts Avenue may refer to: * Massachusetts Avenue (metropolitan Boston), Massachusetts ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Orange Line station), a subway station on the MBTA Orange Line ** Massachusetts Avenue (MBTA Silver Line station), a stati ...
in
Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
, which was then the largest factory in the world devoted entirely to candy, as seen in a photograph of
1928 Necco Wafers truck
Necco continued its dominance of the candy-manufacturing business through much of the first half of the 20th century. In 1942, the U.S. Government requisitioned a "major portion of the production of the wafers, during
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 ...
since the candy doesn't melt and is 'practically indestructible' during transit," This continued until 1945. For several years, Necco was the first, and exclusive, licensed distributor of
Rolo Rolo (pronounced /ˈrəʊləʊ/), referring to the roll-styled chocolates, is a brand of truncated cone-shaped or conical frustum-shaped chocolates with a caramel inside. First manufactured in Norwich, Norfolk in the United Kingdom by Mackintos ...
candy in the US. After losing the license to Hershey, for a time Necco marketed an identical product called "Milk Chocolate Caramel Roll". Necco, still a family-run business in 1963 but having financial problems, was acquired by United Industrial Syndicate of New York. In 1978, after several reorganizations and seven company presidents, Domenic Antonellis was named its CEO, a role he would play for nearly 30 years. From the end of the war through the 1990s, Necco continued to acquire small candy companies throughout the United States and
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, and with those companies, the rights to manufacture their
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from others ...
ed candy bars. It acquired nearby Page & Shaw in 1960. Wisconsin's Stark Candy Company, which was founded in 1939, was acquired in 1988. The acquisition of Stark's Sweethearts, combined with Necco's existing Sweet Talk line of candies, made Necco the leading manufacturer of candy "conversation" hearts. In 1999, Pittsburgh-based Clark Bar America, Inc. was purchased, and by 2000 the company had 1200 employees.


2000s

In 2003, Necco consolidated its facilities to share a ,
Revere, Massachusetts Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, located approximately from Downtown Crossing, downtown Boston. Founded as North Chelsea in 1846, it was renamed in 1871 after the American Revolutionary War Patriot (American Re ...
, plant and warehouse, where its international headquarters resides to this day. The site employed more than 700 workers. Since April 2004, the Necco building at 250 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge has been occupied by the
Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...
Institutes for Biomedical Research. The water tower was repainted with a double helix to represent the biomedical research being performed within. In 2005, the structure, which is still referred to as the Necco candy factory, was added to the U.S.
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. By 2005, the company's annual revenue was around $100 million, at which level it was to remain for several years. In December 2007,American Capital Invests in the One Stop Buyout of NECCO
, a December 28, 2007 press release from the American Capital website
a
buyout In finance, a buyout is an investment transaction by which the ownership equity of a company, or a majority share of the stock of the company is acquired. The acquiror thereby "buys out" the present equity holders of the target company. A buyout ...
of Necco was orchestrated by the
private equity fund A private equity fund (abbreviated as PE fund) is a collective investment scheme used for making investments in various equity (and to a lesser extent debt) securities according to one of the investment strategies associated with private equity ...
American Capital Strategies (in partnership with Clear Creek Capital and Domenic Antonellis, the company's CEO). Necco announced the closure of its
Pewaukee, Wisconsin Pewaukee is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin. The population was 13,195 at the 2010 census. The Village of Pewaukee, which was incorporated out of the town before it incorporated as a city, is surrounded by the city. The name of the city ...
, plant in March 2008. In August 2008, Necco replaced its CEO with Richard Krause, a former
Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
executive, who in February 2009 announced plans to "expand its brand now in the U.S. so it can expand globally later", aiming for a 30% growth in revenue by 2011. In November 2010, Necco was listed for sale with a New York broker; although by February 2011, American Capital announced that the sale was off for the time being. In July 2013,
United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
sued Necco in U.S. District Court for continuing to use their trademarks after their 2009 marketing deal had expired. In February 2014, the case (1:13-cv-11754) was dismissed due to an out of court settlement.


Company tax breaks

The 2011 news that the company was no longer for sale was accompanied by reports that the company had supplied the city of Revere with five years' worth of overdue reports required as part of a
tax increment financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program is ...
(TIF) deal the company had received from the city; those reports "seemed to indicate that Necco has—for several years—not created the jobs they promised in the TIF agreement"; as of March 2011 Necco employed 483 people, including 30 Revere residents. The company's failure to meet the terms of its TIF agreement led the Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council to decertify Necco's participation in the economic development program that administers the agreement. With the support of Revere's mayor, the city council voted to maintain the tax break, which saves the company $300,000, reducing their annual
property tax A property tax or millage rate is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net wealth, taxes on the change of ownership of property through inheri ...
es to $750,000. At one city hearing, Miles Arnone, a managing director of American Capital, had a heated exchange with city council member George Rotondo (who was running for mayor). Arnone was upset about being forced to talk about Necco's health "when you're down 30 percent"; the public exposure of the issue was raising concerns from large customers of Necco such as
CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...
and
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.


Sale and closure

In May 2017, it was announced that the Revere complex containing the company headquarters and major manufacturing center had been sold for $54 million to Massachusetts real estate developers Atlantic Management and VMD Companies. The complex was leased to Necco until the end of August 2018. In March 2018, chief executive Michael McGee announced that, unless a buyer for the company could be found, most of Necco's workforce could be laid off as early as May 6, 2018. With a workforce of approximately 500, Necco was the largest employer in Revere at the time. Online sales of Necco Wafers and other products subsequently spiked, with buyers concerned that the candy would be discontinued, some even offering to sell a car for Necco Wafers. The assets of Necco were sold in a bankruptcy auction in May, 2018, with
Spangler Candy Company The Spangler Candy Company is a privately owned international confectioner that has been manufacturing and marketing candy since 1906. Headquartered in Bryan, Ohio, Spangler's products include lollipops, candy canes, and marshmallow circus peanu ...
having the winning bid of $18.83 million. However, Spangler backed out of the transaction and the company was instead sold for $17.33 million to Round Hill Investments, owned by billionaire C. Dean Metropoulos. They briefly operated the candy manufacturer under the name of Sweethearts, LLC. Two months later, in July, Round Hill Investments announced the immediate closure of Necco's Revere facility following the sale of Necco to an unnamed candy manufacturer, citing "sanitation issues" it claimed it was previously unaware of. About 230 workers were laid off when the Revere plant closed. At the time, Necco was the oldest candy company in the United States. In July 2018, Necco workers were reportedly in high demand by other companies. The purchaser was subsequently identified as the Spangler Candy Company, who had backed out of the purchase months earlier. They planned to restart manufacture of Necco wafers, Sweethearts and Canada Mints, but other Necco-owned brands would not be retained. The
Clark Bar The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core (originally with a caramel center) and coated in milk chocolate. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy ...
was sold in early September to Boyer Candy Company, while other brands and equipment were disbursed at auction at the end of September.
Candy buttons Candy Buttons, Candy Dots, or Pox are small rounded pegs of candy that are attached to a strip of paper. This classic sugar candy was originally introduced by the Cumberland Valley company and J Sudak and Son of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 1977, Sud ...
were bought by
Doscher's Candies Doscher's Candies is an American candy manufacturer, and the oldest producer of candy canes in the United States. It is known for being the oldest continually operating candy company in America. In 1871, Claus Doescher manufactured their first ...
, and Banana Split and Mint Julep chews along with Slap Stix lollipops went to the Reading, Pennsylvania-based Mega Candy Co.
Haviland Thin Mints Haviland Thin Mints are a chocolate-covered mint candy produced by Log House Foods of Plymouth, Minnesota. The candy is a mint fondant covered in dark chocolate, similar to the York Peppermint Pattie but smaller, thinner and shorter. The brand ...
and Mighty Malt Milk Balls were sold to Minnesota-based Log House Food. Equipment and foodstock were disbursed internationally. Some unclaimed brands, such as
Sky Bar Sky Bar is an American candy bar introduced by Necco in 1938, discontinued in 2018, and reintroduced in 2019 by the Sky Bar Confectionary Company. Each Sky Bar has four sections, each with a different filling—caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudg ...
, were later sold in online auctions, while Mary Jane candies, unsold at auction, were licensed by Spangler to
Atkinson Candy Company The Atkinson Candy Company is a candy company based in Lufkin, Texas, best known for producing the Chick-O-Stick. History Atkinson Candy Company is a private company founded in 1932 by B.E. Atkinson, Sr., and his wife, Mabel C. Atkinson. It s ...
of Lufkin, Texas. In October 2019, it was announced that the Revere complex would be leased to
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
for use as a distribution center.


Brands

* Banana Split chews * Canada Mints * Candy Cupboard & Masterpieces * Candy House
Candy Buttons Candy Buttons, Candy Dots, or Pox are small rounded pegs of candy that are attached to a strip of paper. This classic sugar candy was originally introduced by the Cumberland Valley company and J Sudak and Son of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In 1977, Sud ...
*
Clark Bar The Clark Bar is a candy bar consisting of a crispy peanut butter/spun taffy core (originally with a caramel center) and coated in milk chocolate. It was the first American "combination" candy bar to achieve nationwide success. Two similar candy ...
candy bar A candy bar is a type of candy that is in the shape of a bar. The most common type of candy bar is the chocolate bar, including both bars made of solid chocolate and combination candy bars, which are candy bars that combine chocolate with other ...
s * Kettle Fresh *
Mary Janes Mary Jane (also known as bar shoes or doll shoes) is an American term ( formerly a registered trademark) for a closed, low-cut shoe with one or more straps across the instep. Classic Mary Janes for children are typically made of black leather ...
and Mary Jane
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 ...
kisses * Mint Julep chews * Mighty Malts Malted Milk Balls *
Necco Wafers Necco Wafers are a sugar-based candy, sold in rolls of variously flavored thin disks. First produced in 1847, they became the namesake and core product of the now-defunct New England Confectionery Company (Necco), which operated near Boston, Mas ...
* Peach Blossoms *
Sky Bar Sky Bar is an American candy bar introduced by Necco in 1938, discontinued in 2018, and reintroduced in 2019 by the Sky Bar Confectionary Company. Each Sky Bar has four sections, each with a different filling—caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudg ...
candy bars * Slap Stix * Squirrel Nut Caramels * Squirrel Nut Zippers * Stark Candy Raisins * Sweethearts Conversation Hearts The Haviland division of Necco produced many candies such as
Haviland Thin Mints Haviland Thin Mints are a chocolate-covered mint candy produced by Log House Foods of Plymouth, Minnesota. The candy is a mint fondant covered in dark chocolate, similar to the York Peppermint Pattie but smaller, thinner and shorter. The brand ...
, Bridge Mix, and others.


References


External links

*
Company profile
on
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
website
National Confectioner's Association
website
Necco wafers at the South Pole (early 20th century)
{{Necco brands Confectionery companies of the United States Companies based in Suffolk County, Massachusetts Revere, Massachusetts American companies established in 1901 Food and drink companies established in 1901 1901 establishments in Massachusetts Privately held companies based in Massachusetts