The jelly bean is a semi-hard shelled, gel-filled, bean-shaped sugar candy. Popular around Easter over the past few decades, jelly beans have been in the U.S. since the early 1900s. Jelly beans are just for Easter any more. They are offered year round in colors applicable to the closest holiday. For instance, you'll find red and white jelly beans around Valentine's Day. Orange and black are popular at Halloween.
Jelly bean makers stick with the traditional colors of red, black, white, green, yellow, blue, orange, pink, and purple with matching flavors of cherry, licorice, vanilla, lime, lemon, blueberry, orange, rose, and grape, but in recent years have expanded into designer and gourmet flavors. Consider the following info on jelly beans: Some interesting tidbits about jelly beans:
1. Celebrate National Jelly Bean Day on April 22nd each year.
2. Sixteen million jelly beans are manufactured each year for Easter.
3. The jelly bean is a staple in the candy world and will be around for a long time.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Comparison shop for the best prices and greatest flavors in jelly beans
Jelly bean suppliers sell their products in quantities as small as single packages to as large as by the case. You can search online for stores that sell your favorite brand of jelly bean in your local area, or you can order online.
I recommend: Commerce Online offers a directory of close to 200 jelly bean suppliers and manufacturers.
Nationwide Candy sells jelly bean flavors including Life Savers and Pee Wee jelly beans.
Experience the jelly bean making process
It's always interesting to learn the process behind the treat. Jelly beans are too difficult to make at home, although you could try. Because of the processing time for each step, it is much easier to shop for your favorite flavors rather than make them.
I recommend: Jelly Belly offers an online virtual tour detailing the creative process behind the jelly bean. They also offer
live tours of their Wisconsin and California jelly bean manufacturing factories.
Find jelly bean wholesalers
It pays to shop around, especially if you want to buy in bulk. Jelly bean manufacturers generally offer many varieties of flavors and sometimes the ability to mix and match packages within a carton.
I recommend: An extensive offering of wholesale jelly beans can be bought through
Candy Favorites with discounts available for meeting their minimum order requirements.
Sugar Stand online candy store offers many jelly bean flavors.
Wonderful Wholesale Warehouse offers 43 different flavors of jelly beans available to buy in bulk.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- It takes six to 10 days for a jelly bean maker to make a jelly bean.
- Jelly beans don't melt easily due to the process behind the making the shell coating.
- You can now find sugar-free jelly beans.
The official source of Wholesalers and Distributors of Jelly Beans is
the Jelly Beans page at Business.com
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