Remember those jelly beans made famous by President Ronald Reagan? They were Jelly Bellys –
the first jelly beans in outer space, on Air Force One and in the Oval Office. It was
Reagan’s passion for the sweet delight, in fact, that led to the creation of Blueberry
flavor, so he could serve a patriotic display of red (Very Cherry), white (Cream Soda) and
blue beans. That’s just a sampling of the information you can pick up during a free tour of
the company’s candy factory in Fairfield, California (about an hour north of San
Francisco).
It’s where you’ll learn why it takes more than a week to make a single bean –
and where you can sidle up to the Sampling Bar and taste any of the 53 Jelly Belly flavors
(from Chocolate Pudding to Buttered Popcorn, the current best-seller), as well as any of
the company’s other confections.
No appointment is necessary for tours of the company’s
California factory or its Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, warehouse. For directions, call
(800) JB-BEANS (California) or (866) TOUR-JBC (Wisconsin), or visit jellybelly.com.
