Sunmark Corporation (formerly Sunline Inc.) was a candy confectionery company based in

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

. The company was founded by Menlo F. Smith in 1952 as an offshoot of the company owned by his father, Joseph Fish Smith. They invented many candy brands, some of which are still produced today, such as

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 ...

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 ...

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' ...

, and Lik-M-Aid (now known as

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. ...

). Originally called Sunline Incorporated, it changed its name to Sunmark, Inc. It subsequently acquired Breaker Connections in 1975 (makers of the

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' ...

, Skrunch Bar, and

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 ...

) changing the acquisition's name to Willy Wonka Brands in 1980. Additionally, the Sunmark Companies became a parent company to the brands Sunline Brands, Sunfield Foods, and David & Sons, as well as other subsidiaries that supported its manufacturing and distribution functions. In 1983, Sunmark introduced Nerds. In 1986, it was acquired by

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, which was purchased by

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 1988. In 1993, Nestle renamed the company

The Willy Wonka Candy Company ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. In 1999 they closed the corporate offices that had been in St. Louis. In mid-2006, many of Sunmark Co.'s last candy production plants, then owned by Nestlé, were shut down due to an overly competitive market.

References

Confectionery companies of the United States Food manufacturers of the United States 1952 establishments in Missouri {{confection-stub