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

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. 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 lightly poured into the mouth from the wrapper, which is made out of either plastic or paper. Pixy Stix contain dext ...

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

, Spree, 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 was originally 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 each film adaptation of the novel: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fact ...

, Skrunch Bar, and Oompas) 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 plc (file no. 00051491) ( ), Trade name, trading as Rowntree Mackintosh Confectionery, was an English confectionery company based in York, England. It was formed by the merger of Rowntree's#History, Rowntree's and Mackintosh ...

of the UK, which was purchased by

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

in 1988. In 1993, Nestle renamed the company

The Willy Wonka Candy Company ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

. 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. In 2018, the Ferrara Candy Company, owned by the Ferrero Group in Chicago, Illinois, bought out Nestle USA's confectionery business. Brands such as Pixy Stix, SweeTarts, and Fun Dip are now being produced by the Ferrara Candy Company.

References

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