Nestlé Candy Shop (formerly The Willy Wonka Candy Company) was a

confectionery 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 ...

brand owned and licensed by the Swiss corporation

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

. In 2018, the branding and production rights were sold to the

Ferrero Group Ferrero SpA (), more commonly known as Ferrero Group or simply Ferrero, is an Italian multinational company with headquarters in Alba, Italy. manufacturer of branded chocolate and confectionery products, and the second biggest chocolate produce ...

, and as a result, the brand was discontinued.

History

Origins

The previous inception of the Wonka brand came from materials licensed from the British author

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

. His classic 1964 children's novel, ''

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1964 children's novel by British author Roald Dahl. The story features the adventures of young Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka. The story was originally ...

'', and its film adaptations are the sources of both the packaging and the marketing styles of the Wonka brand. Dahl had licensed the "Wonka" name to film director

Mel Stuart Mel Stuart (born Stuart Solomon; September 2, 1928 – August 9, 2012) was an American film director and producer who often worked with producer David L. Wolper, at whose production firm he worked for 17 years, before going freelance. Ea ...

. The film's producer,

David L. Wolper David Lloyd Wolper (January 11, 1928 – August 10, 2010) was an American television and film producer, responsible for shows such as ''Roots'', '' The Thorn Birds'', and ''North and South'', and the theatrically-released films ''L.A. Confiden ...

, convinced the

Quaker Oats Company The Quaker Oats Company, known as Quaker, is an American food conglomerate based in Chicago. It has been owned by PepsiCo since 2001. History Precursor miller companies In the 1850s, Ferdinand Schumacher and Robert Stuart founded oat mills. S ...

to advance $3 million to finance the film in exchange for the right to use the Wonka name to sell candy bars. Quaker, which had no previous experience in the film industry, bought the rights to the book and financed the picture to promote their new "Wonka Bar". The title of the film was changed to ''

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. It is an adaptation of the 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl. The film ...

'' for promotional purposes. The brand was launched on 17 May 1971, one month before the release of the novel's first film adaptation on 30 June 1971. In 1975, Breaker Confections was acquired by Sunmark Corporation of

Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

. In 1980, the Breaker Confections brand name was changed to ‘Willy Wonka Brands’ in an attempt to develop the ‘Wonka’ brand image before it was sold out in 1986 to

Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery was a British company formed by the merger of Rowntree's and John Mackintosh Co. The company was famous for making chocolate brands, such as Kit Kat, Aero and Quality Street. It was purchased by Nestlé in 19 ...

of the UK, who, then sold it out in 1988 to Swiss company

, who in 1993 renamed it ‘Willy Wonka Candy Company’, and then in 2015 ‘Nestlé Candy Shop’. In 1988, the Willy Wonka Candy Company brand, then owned by Sunmark Corporation, was acquired by Nestlé. The original ‘Wonka Bars’ never saw store shelves due to factory production problems before the film's release; however, subsequent Wonka product releases were highly successful, including the

Everlasting Gobstopper The Everlasting Gobstopper is a gobstopper candy from Roald Dahl's 1964 children's novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. According to its creator Willy Wonka, it was intended "for children with very little pocket money". It not only chan ...

in 1976 and Nerds in 1983. From 1988 to 2017, Nestlé sold sweets and chocolate under the Wonka brand name in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama, Dominican Republic, and the Middle East. The cessation of the Wonka brand was due to the impending sale of branding rights to the

. To promote the upcoming film '' Wonka'', Ferrara revived the Wonka brand name for promotional "Magic Hat Gummies".

Acquisition by Ferrero

On January 18, 2018, Ferrero announced that it would be purchasing the Nestlé US candy business and all of its US products, office locations, and manufacturing plants. The deal gave Nestlé a value of approximately $2.8 billion.

Products (at time of discontinuation)

Bottle Caps A bottle is a narrow-necked container made of an impermeable material (such as glass, plastic or aluminium) in various shapes and sizes that stores and transports liquids. Its mouth, at the bottling line, can be sealed with an internal stoppe ...

Fun Dip Fun Dip is a candy manufactured by the Ferrara Candy Company. The candy has been on the market in the United States and Canada since the 1940s and was originally called Lik-M-Aid. It was originally manufactured by Fruzola, and then Sunline Inc. ...

Laffy Taffy Laffy Taffy is an American brand of taffy candies produced by the Ferrara Candy Company, a subsidiary of Ferrero. The candies are small (about ), individually wrapped taffy rectangles available in a variety of colors and artificial fruit fl ...

* Nerds *

Pixy Stix Pixy Stix are a sweet and sour colored powdered candy usually packaged in a wrapper that resembles a drinking straw. The candy is usually poured into the mouth from the wrapper, which is made out of plastic or paper. Pixy Stix contain dextrose ...

Runts Runts in a bulk vending machine (on the right) with the 2007 and 2008 flavor lineup Runts are crunchy candies sold by Nestlé. First seen on the market in 1982, the candies are in the shape, color, and flavor of a selection of fruits. Runt ...

Spree Spree may refer to: Geography * Spree (river), river in Germany Film and television * ''The Spree'', a 1998 American television film directed by Tommy Lee Wallace * ''Spree'' (film), a 2020 American film starring Joe Keery * "Spree" (''Numbers' ...

SweeTarts SweeTarts (; officially stylized as SweeTARTS) are sweet and sour candies invented under the direction of Menlo F. Smith, CEO of Sunline Inc., in 1962. The candy was created using the same basic recipe as the already popular Pixy Stix and Li ...

* SweeTarts Chewy Sours * SweeTarts Soft & Chewy Ropes * Wonka Ice Cream (Peel-A-Pops and Push Ups) * Mixups * Randoms (

Rowntree's Randoms Rowntree's Randoms are a jelly sweet produced by Nestlé under its Rowntree's brand. The sweet was launched in the United Kingdom, UK on 18 May 2009. Product information The sweets have six natural fruit flavours: blackcurrant, cherry, strawber ...

in the UK, made and sold in the US under the Wonka brand)

Previous products

* Chewy Runts * DinaSour Eggs * Dweebs * Everlasting Hot Gobstoppers * Sour Gobstoppers * Longlasting Gobstoppers * Fizzy Jerkz * FruiTart Chews * Fruit Marvels * Gummy Nerds *

Oompas Oompas, now discontinued, were candy produced under the Willy Wonka brand name. They were labeled as ‘Peanut Butter Oompas’. The candy produced from 1971 to 1983 was similar to today's Reese's Pieces and peanut butter M&M's (though bigger ...

* Punky's * Rinky Dinks * Scrumdidilyumptious * Shock Tarts Sour Gum Balls * Super Skrunch * Tangy Bloops * Tangy Bumps * Tangy Bunnys *

Tart 'n' Tinys Tart 'n' Tinys are small, fruit-flavored candies distributed by Leaf Brands. Tart 'n' Tiny's were originally manufactured by the Wonka company in five colors, bluish-purple (grape), yellow (lemon), orange (orange), red (cherry), and green (lime). ...

* Tinglerz * Volcano Rocks *

Wacky Wafers Wacky Wafers are a candy sold by Leaf Brands, LLC. They are shaped about the size of an United States, American Half dollar (United States coin), half dollar coin and come in five flavors: banana, green apple, watermelon, orange, and strawberry. ...

* Wegg (UK only) * Willy Wonka's Guppies * Willy Wonka's Squids * Willy Wonka's Watermelon * Wonkalate (UK only) *

Wonka Bar The Wonka Bar is a fictional chocolate bar, introduced as a key story point in the 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'' by Roald Dahl. Wonka Bars appear in both film adaptations of the novel, ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory' ...

* Wonka Biscuits (UK only) * Wonka Daredevils * Wonka Donutz *

Xploder Xploder is a brand of game cheats and multimedia devices for games consoles, similar to Action Replay. Xploder products have been released for Dreamcast, PS2, PlayStation, PSP, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, PC and o ...

References

External links

* {{Charlie and the Chocolate Factory * Food and drink companies established in 1971 Candy British chocolate companies Willy Wonka