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Plant
Confectioner Marinus van Dam was employed by the company to manage the plant and oversee new product development with Herman Rowland. Marinus van Dam was born in Ooltgensplaat, a township in Oostflakkee, Netherlands, on October 24, 1929. -
David Klein
David Klein created the Jelly Belly jelly bean and a new kind of marketing for a jelly bean to be sold in single flavors in 1976. -
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Jelly Belly
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First
David Klein sold the first Jelly Belly jelly beans in an ice cream parlor, Fosselman's, in Alhambra, California in 1976. The first flavors were Very Cherry, Tangerine, Lemon, Green Apple, Grape Jelly, Licorice, Root Beer, and Cream Soda. Total sales for the first seven-day period was $44. The product was selling for $2 per pound, which was considered a very high price at the time. -
Sold Out
In 1980, Klein and his business partner sold out to the Goelitz Candy Company for $4.8 million. -
U.S president
Jelly Belly beans were most famously enjoyed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who kept a jar of them on his desk in the White House, Blair House and on Air Force One, and who also made them the first jelly beans in outer space, sending them on the 1983 Challenger shuttle as a surprise for the astronauts. -
Today
They sell them today in parades or in small towns.