Jelly Belly jelly beans are made in our kitchens in Fairfield, California and North Chicago, Illinois. We make everything from scratch and use natural ingredients whenever possible. We produce all Jelly Belly flavors in both factories. Here's a map so you can see the making of Jelly Belly beans for yourself if you are not able to take a walking tour at our northern California plant.

Step 1: Getting Centered

A Jelly Belly jelly bean starts

with its center. The juicy

center begins as a kettle of

hot gooey mix. We add flavors and colors to this mix that will

become the very heart of our jelly beans. Aside from the

sweet stuff, some of the ingredients we add to make

the incredible flavors might include real peanut butter (in Peanut Butter flavor), peach

puree (in Peach) and milk chocolate (in Chocolate Pudding).

And that's one hallmark of a Jelly Belly bean - we flavor the centers and the shells; traditional jelly beans are flavored only

in the shells.

 

Step 2: Taking Shape

When the candy is cooked to perfection, and since it's still

hot liquid, it flows downstairs (sort of like fruit-flavored

molten lava). Once downstairs, the liquid candy goes into a machine that drops an itty-

bitty amount into individual depressions in large trays.

These trays contain a special type of cornstarch. A moldboard makes little Jelly Belly shaped impressions into the starch. The liquid candy is deposited

directly into each impression, creating 1,260 Jelly Belly centers

in each tray.

 

Step 3: Why a Jelly Bean Doesn't Run Down Your Chin

Now the trays filled with still jiggly, jelly bean centers then move to drying rooms overnight  to cool down and firm up.

 

 

 

Step 4: A Short Sugar Shower

The next day, the perfectly firm centers are separated from the cornstarch molds, and then sent through a moisture steam bath  and a sugar shower. Now we

have lightly sugarcoated centers that vaguely resemble jelly

beans. The centers are allowed

to rest for another 24 to 48

hours before moving on to the

next step where they get their jackets or outer shells.

 

Step 5: The Most Engrossing Part

A couple of hundred pounds of

Jelly Belly centers are heaped

into a copper or steel rotating drum called an "engrossing pan"

in order to add the flavored

shells. (They are called pans because royal confectioners in 15th century France used large shallow pans to coat nut

centers with candy shells.) As

the Jelly Belly centers tumble in the engrossing pans, four

layers of specially flavored syrups and sugar are added by

hand, building the shells around the centers over a two-hour period. When they are finished, they weigh more, or are engrossed. Now we have a candy that tastes like a Jelly

Belly bean. Still, there's more ahead for these little guys.

 

Step 6: The Polishing Point

The next step in making a Jelly Belly jelly bean is polishing the beans to a bright shiny finish.

We want them to show off their colors! About 400 pounds of

Jelly Belly beans are poured into yet another set of revolving stainless steel pans.

 

Confectioner's glaze is poured over the beans as they tumble in the pans. The revolving

pans allow the jelly beans to roll over each other in a process similar to polishing rocks. The result is an extremely high gloss finish on the surface of each bean. The polished jelly beans

are placed into trays and seasoned for two to four days

before they receive their crowning touch.

 

Step 7: Name That Bean

Here's where we get our good name. Each shiny and tasty

Jelly Belly bean drops into a

tray with perfect little pockets for every bean. Meanwhile, our candy makers prepare food coloring, (it's the same stuff

used to make marshmallows white) and pour it into a

printing machine. The jelly beans, still snug in their pockets,

pass right under a very soft roller, which prints the Jelly Belly name on every bean. We even print the white ones! The

name on each bean is our guarantee that you're getting

genuine Jelly Belly jelly beans.

 

Step 8: Stack 'em, Pack 'em, and Ship 'em

Finally, it's time to pack 'em

up! The 50 Flavor Jelly Belly

Gift Box requires the most complicated packaging steps. Special equipment fills each

candy box with 50 flavors of

Jelly Belly jelly beans, each

flavor in its own compartment. Jelly Belly jelly beans are

available in a wide assortment

of offerings - from individual bulk flavors to bags, cans, jars

and gift boxes. All go into shipping cases of many different

sizes. Then, huge trucks pull up to our back door and

transport the finished Jelly Belly jelly beans to candy stores, supermarkets, gift shops and gourmet food stores throughout the U.S. and to 27 countries around the world.

top