Jelly Belly Taps Into Trends to Find New Flavors

Jelly Belly offers more than 100 jellybean flavors, from the classics (cherry, green apple and bubblegum) to the adventurous (canned dog food, rotten egg and dead fish). Buttered popcorn, a cult favorite, became Jelly Belly’s first savory addition in 1989, opening the door to more offbeat varieties.

“Our flavor team, they’re scientists,” said Jana Sanders Perry, communications manager for Jelly Belly Candy Co., Fairfield, California. “They’re not going into it with emotion or psychology. They are going into it with a very scientific, analytical approach and saying, ‘What are the flavor notes? Let us replicate that.’”  The creation of a “stinky socks” inspired jellybean actually began with dirty gym socks. They were sealed in a zippered bag and festered in a car trunk for several weeks.

“Flavor development can take weeks; it can take months,” Ms. Perry said.  Now the company is venturing into adult beverage territory with their draft beer flavor.   “That was a lot of hard work on the part of our R.&D. team to figure out how to take a very sweet jellybean and turn it into one of the most recognizably not sweet, savory flavors, and that’s beer. It did have a hint of sweetness to it just naturally, so it’s more like a hefeweizen than a lager or ale.”

Formerly known as Herman Goelitz Candy Co., the family-owned and -operated company was founded in 1898 and began producing Jelly Belly jellybeans in 1976. Additional product lines include candy corn, licorice, gummies and sour candies.

A new product is Jelly Belly Recipe Mix, which includes five two-in-one flavored jellybeans — lemon meringue pie, chocolate covered banana, peanut butter and jelly, blueberry muffin and s’mores. The product was inspired by a consumer tradition of combining Jelly Belly flavors to create a new flavor.
Over the years, Jelly Belly has partnered with other brands to create licensed jellybean flavors inspired by Dr Pepper, A&W Root Beer, Tabasco and, more recently, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

“Tapping into these trends, we try to stay ahead of the game,” Ms. Perry added. “Pomegranate was one really good example where we did that way before pomegranate took off. But then when it did take off, we were right there with our pomegranate flavor.  “We listen to what our fans are saying. For years and years, they said, ‘We want beer…’ and in the case of draft beer, it took us probably years [to get it right].”

Good brew candies come to those who wait.
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